LIKE MARY, WE TOO ARE PREGNANT OF JESUS

HOMILY FOR THE 4^TH SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

We are in labour. Yes, just like Mary, we are now pregnant and are about to go to the delivery room. And one can say that this pain of child-bearing is on its topmost gear. These preparations can indeed be very exhausting and energy sapping due to the busyness of the season. And one may be inclined to think: But why should we not just work and rest as we normally do; why subject ourselves to fatigue for Christmas? It is simply because in this weariness lies joy and gladness. Sometimes, it seems that unless we feel worn-out from the daily preparations for Christmas, the later would not have been duly celebrated. There is joy and expectation that enshrouds us as we prepare for the birth of Jesus. Even when we get tired, we desire to push more. It is as if that the more we complain of distractions, the more we are attracted to labour for Christmas, sending Christmas cards, organizing family visits and meals, sharing gifts and pleasantries, etc. All these energy-sapping events are characteristic of this season, no doubt. And so, It is from these angles of exhaustive preparations coupled with the story of Mary’s pregnancy that we can understand why it has been said that we are pregnant of Jesus. The first angle would be labour as connected to childbearing, and the second angle would be labour as connected to the exhaustive preparations and readiness for the very D-day -the Christmas Day. What do we make out of both labours?

The Gospel (Luke 1:39-44) speaks about the amazing pregnancy of Mary that transmitted the power of the Holy Spirit to the miraculous pregnancy of her cousin sister, Elizabeth. After the visit of the angel to Mary, Mary set out to visit her sister. On arrival and as she greeted her, there was a great divine experience in Elizabeth. And one could imagine the power of joy and anointing being let out from the child Jesus in the womb through the mouth of Mary and straight through the ears of Elizabeth down through the umbilical cord into the child John as soon as Mary offered her good-day greeting to Elizabeth. These sense organs of speech and hearing became the media that transmitted the divine power in Mary within a twinkle of an eye, moving through into Elizabeth. Oh, what an incredibly fast divine chemical reaction; one that beats hands down the timing of the chemical reaction of diffusion. Mary carried in her a highly concentrated divine power ready to be delivered. And the first woman that embraced her was so lucky that she got this power of the Holy Spirit in her. When power is diffused, there is a blasting occurrence. In this case, Elizabeth gave out a loud cry. And here in this story, Elizabeth is not only important because of her blood affiliation to Mary, but also because of those prophetic words she released unto Mary. The phrase “exclaimed in a loud cry” when understood from its Greek origin would signify one who shouts as if he/she is talking through a mega phone; that is, an out-door cry or a mega voice. These words of Elizabeth to Mary were prophetic. And just as Elizabeth spoke them to Mary, she also speaks them to us today, for we too are now pregnant of Jesus. We carry great power in us.

But why do we regard those words of Elizabeth as prophetic? It is because they were prompted by the Holy Spirit. Remember, Mary had barely said any words to Elizabeth before she exploded with those words. Mary was yet to give her the news of her pregnancy, yet the words of Elizabeth implied that Mary was pregnant: and blessed is the fruit of your womb. We are grateful to Elizabeth for such prophetic words; declaring Mary and her unborn child the most blessed, and understanding Jesus to be her Lord who effected an unusual and divinely-inspired movement of the child in her own womb. We are grateful to Elizabeth for giving Mary through her prophetic words the baton that produced Mary’s song of praise, the Magnificat (cf. Luke 1:46-56). Therefore, we are very optimistic today to be disposed as Mary, allowing ourselves to be used as channels of God’s grace and letting out songs of praise at the sound of the greetings of one another, especially during the kiss of peace. We must resound in our lives as the Second Reading (Heb. 10:5-10) proposes: Here, I am! I have come to do your will. As pregnant as Mary that we are now, we must also be as loudly joyful as Elizabeth in our greetings of one another, looking at the beautiful faces of one another, and not removing our faces unless we have given out a smile. Jesus transmits vibrancy, joy and peace. In the womb of Mary, he transmitted joy into Elizabeth. In our womb today, he also transmits joy. Thus, we are expected to allow ourselves remain channels of joy to the people we meet.

Something very important that we must be ready to remind ourselves during this season that we labour heavily and seriously for Christmas is the relevance of joy. Any form of labour that does not tend towards the production of joy in people ought to be avoided. If we are preparing for Christmas, we must prepare in joy and allow this joy to be felt by others. Remember, you need not be sad over your inability to acquire certain material things you think you need for Christmas. Remember too that there are so many people who are praying to have, even if it be that little that you currently have. In the face of all these, a few important questions which can be personalised arise: Should my acquisition or lack of material things hamper in me the joy of Christmas? Why mount on myself unnnecessary pressures which are not even prerequisites for the faith I express in Chritmas? So many are materially poor, and yet they are ready to celebrate the birth of Christ in joy. There are many who have been made to live apart from family and friends, for the reasons of work or civil unrest, and yet they are celebrating Christmas in joy. We need only be  contented, accommodating, and never to bear forth sadness or the feeling of rejection in others.

There is this story of a rich lady who sat beside a poor elderly man on an air plane. She alerted the air hostess immediately upon taking her seat to find another seat for her. But as the attendant told her the economy cabin is all booked, the rich lady replied: I’m sorry, but I am not going to travel beside a worthless bum. Do something.’ while the elderly man starred in disbelief, the attendant excused herself to go and talk to the pilot about the situation. A few minutes later, she returned and said: “Luckily, we found an open seat in business class, and the pilot has allowed us to use it.” The rich proudly stood out of her seat, but the attendant quickly reached out her arm to the man and said: “Sir, will you please follow me; there is a place for you in business Class.” At this point, there was a round of applause in the air plane. There was joy. As that rich lady was trying to give birth to sorrow for the other, God turned the table around and gave the elderly man joy and a pride of place. We must allow ourselves to be envoys of joy. Being pregnant of Jesus implies putting to bed joy, peace, love, justice, unity, and selflessness and to putting out of bed rancour, injustice, selfishness, hatred, division and war prevalent in our world today. We continue to hope for the actualization of the Lord’s word through the prophet Micah in the First Reading (Micah 5:1-4); to be in a world where total abundance, security, and peace are made available to all. And we pray that being now in labour to deliver Jesus to the world that needs her would also mean for us individually to help in whatever little ways that we can to deliver abundance of food and drink to our hungry neighbours, ensuring security for warring nations and instilling peace in our depressed society. All these we hope to deliver through Christ our Lord. Amen. Happy New Week of Christmas.. God bless you.