Luke 1: 39-45
“Blessed are you that believed what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” I would like to explore the last verse tonight in light of Fr. Alan Carter’s request that we all pray for vocations in the Church, vocations of all kinds–-because we are all called to a vocation in the Church.
“Blessed are you that believed what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” This suggests that Mary and Elizabeth had discussed Mary’s mission from God at an earlier time, but the content of Mary’s unique mission, of her specific mission to bear God’s son, had just been given to her by the Angel Gabriel. As we heard last week, Mary was conceived immaculately and was filled with grace; certainly from childhood she must have had a sense that she was special to God, precious in God’s eyes; that God was calling her to something special. No doubt she confided this to Elizabeth in prior conversations: of God intending her for something unique. Could it be that Mary — who is our model in discipleship — had a spiritual mentor in Elizabeth, her older relative, who encouraged her? Finally, in the fullness of time, at a particular moment in time, the Angel Gabriel appeared and announced the specific mission God had for Mary in light of salvation history for the whole human race. No wonder Mary wanted to be with Elizabeth at this moment!
Doesn’t it work this way with us, too? A glimmer of light or hint, a suggestion. We discuss it with advisors, mentors, people in our live, with confidants who have traveled that road before us who can guide us. Can it be God is calling me to be this path? Take time, explore, wait, be patient, discern. And follow. Trust that God will make it clear – in time – as he did for Mary. Have not our vocations come to clarity gradually? Have we not followed in faith, in trust, and in hope — as Mary did? Trusting that God’s word to us would be fulfilled?
I have known a similar path in my vocation story, and so no doubt have you. What is the word that God spoke to you, is speaking to you, in your life? If it is about to break forth, bud forth, like the flower of Jesse’s stem, take heart as the Christmas scriptures will tell us. If God’s word to you has been fulfilled, thank God for that and be a light of encouragement for others – as Elizabeth was, Mary was and is.
What a wonderful Gospel for us tonight in this season of light and hope. We follow the light; we follow the star, the star guiding us to the fulfillment of God’s plan for our salvation history — a fulfillment that will affect not only ourselves but so many others. The Eucharist continues to nourish us in our faith journeys so that we can continue to believe and trust that “what was spoken to us by the Lord would be fulfilled.”