Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Luke 1:39–45

December 22 marks the final Sunday of Advent. Though some years we are granted nearly a full week to savor the closing days before Christmas, this year, the fourth week of Advent is fleeting—only three days long. With so little time, there might be the temptation to declare Advent as complete, to pat ourselves on the back for getting through three weeks of frenzy (can you believe Thanksgiving was only 23 days ago?), and begin the final tasks for Christmas morning.

But what if we dared to stay in the darkness a little bit longer, longing for the light only Christ can bring? 

What if we allowed our souls to experience the pining for a world free from sin and error? 

What if we permitted our hearts to ache for redemption and the fulfillment of God's promises? 

In this sacred pause, we can look to the example of those who waited in hope and faith, trusting in the completion of God's promises.

In Sunday's gospel, Elizabeth, moved by the Holy Spirit, declares the wonderous mystery that the Mother of God has come to her and acknowledges the amazing works God is accomplishing through Mary. Then she tells Mary, "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled" (Luke 1:45). 

I've been captivated by that verse. 

Perhaps, it is because I long for a faith as steadfast, tangible, and radiant as Mary's—that others might one day say of me, "Blessed is she who believed." And because I know that so often, my belief comes retrospectively, only after God's promises have been brought to fruition, rather than in the trusting anticipation of their fulfillment. 

Mary's faith was different. Even before Mary could feel or see any signs of pregnancy—no flutter of movement, no positive pregnancy test, no ultrasound—she believed. With her entire being, she trusted that what the Lord had spoken to her was true and would be accomplished, no matter how improbable it seemed. 

Not only did Mary believe that she would be the Mother of God, but she also trusted that she would see the realization of God's greatest promise in her life. She clung to the truth that she would behold the Messiah, the Redeemer, Emmanuel—the salvation "which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel" (Luke 2:31–32).

As this final, fleeting week of Advent begins, Mary invites us to linger in the waiting, to pause in the darkness, and to believe that His promised time is coming. Christ will come to us at Christmas, and He will come again in glory at the end of time. Like Mary, may we trust that what God has spoken will surely come to be, for we know that we have a God who keeps His promises. As Saint Ambrose so beautifully wrote in his commentary on this gospel, “You also are blessed because who have heard and who have believed: for every soul that believes, conceives and brings forth the Word of God, and confesses his works.”[1] As we wait in hopeful anticipation, may we bring forth the Word of God in all we do.

Food for thought or journaling...
What are you waiting to be fulfilled? What word do you need to hear spoken to you from the Lord? What would it look like for you to believe as Mary did? 

Lord, guide me to the manger in these final days of Advent. Help me to walk patiently and peacefully, appreciating the journey as it is, not as I would have it. Open my heart and increase my faith that I might become a woman who, in all circumstances, believes in Your promises, even before I have seen them fulfilled. 

[1] M. F. Toal, The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers: Vol. 4 (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000), 415.