Our First Reading on this last Sunday of Advent is from the prophet Micah. Micah, like his colleagues, Isaiah, Amos, Hosea and Jeremiah all wrote some 800 years before the birth of Christ, and were known as the Prophets of Doom for a number of reasons.
They were continually harping, warning and threatening the chosen people to be faithful to Yahweh. Their message was one of doom and gloom; rarely was their message ever upbeat and positive. They were like the Grinch or Scrooge. But, on a brighter note, all of these prophets, at certain times, also had their softer moments and messages of hope.
An example of Micah’s hope and optimism is found in our First Reading. Despite the corruption of the political leaders who were inflicting injustices upon the people, Micah proclaimed that a new ruler would be born in the tiny village of Bethlehem and this ruler would bring peace. Bethlehem? Really? It was a sleepy unimportant town, just six miles from Jerusalem.
Yet this insignificant and ordinary village became an extraordinary place. Our Divine God, Our Lord of Lords and King of Kings chose Bethlehem as the place where Jesus was born. Actually, it is not out of character for God to choose the ordinary to do extraordinary deeds.
As today’s Gospel from Luke points out, God chose two insignificant, unknown and seemingly unimportant women: an old woman past child-bearing age and a young virgin filling them with the extraordinary miracle of life.
Luke’s emphasizes the two women as we close-out Advent. They were both filled with the Holy Spirit.
Elizabeth was inspired to greet Mary, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” And then to ask “ ... and who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
Mary was filled with the gift of the Holy Spirit. She was able to believe through eyes of faith and trust in God’s surprising Divine Providence, giving birth to the long-awaited Messiah.
The ordinary became the extraordinary.
We ordinary everyday run-of-the-mill people are also asked to do many ordinary things. These deeds can become extraordinary because of our love and our faith in God.
The ordinary can become the extraordinary because of love. An ordinary Advent can become an extraordinary Christmas because there is love.
Without love, we are nothing.
Love stops the decorating to hug your child. Love sets aside the baking to tenderly show affection to your spouse.
Love is always patient and kind, especially to the poor, uneducated, and those assaulted or abused, and especially towards those who grieve the death of a loved one. We also extend our love and respect to the men and women in the Armed Forces or any people away from home.
Love is not rude, even when exhausted from shopping or annoyed by traffic. Love doesn’t rejoice in only gifting family and friends but rejoices in sharing with the homeless, unemployed and those physically and mentally challenged.
Love bears all things. Love never fails. Giving with love is the greatest of all.
Love does make the ordinary extraordinary.
Bethlehem was just an ordinary little town. Elizabeth and Zachariah were ordinary people asked to do extraordinary things with love. Mary and Joseph were ordinary people doing extraordinary things with love. You and I are ordinary people, hopefully doing extraordinary things with love.
A story to illustrate the point:
Father Bob and I were at a fast-food restaurant, and I had the ‘view seat’ ... the one where you get to see the front door and what is going on in the restaurant.
There was a young couple in the restaurant with their baby boy who was sitting in a highchair. Suddenly, out of the clear blue, he joyfully yelled out “Hi.” He pounded his chubby baby hands on the highchair tray and laughed showing his toothless grin.
His mother looked around to see what made their little boy so happy. It was a woman with baggy, filthy, dirty pants. Her shirt was just as bad, with soiled food stains. Her hair was unwashed and uncombed and you could see her toes poking out of holes in her tennis shoes. Her nose was so varicose from drinking that it looked like a road map.
The parents were far from where the homeless woman stood, but we could all smell her. And, there she was, waving and flapping her hands, talking to the little boy as if they were long-time friends.
“Eric, be quiet,” the mother tried to hush the boy as Eric waved back and continued to sing out in joy, one of the few words in his vocabulary, “Hi, Hi.”
The apparent homeless woman walked over to little Eric and said, “Do you know peek-a-boo? And do you know, ‘Patty cake patty cake, baker’s man…’”
Bob and I quickly intervened by offering to buy her a meal. I will never forget that, while we bought her a meal, we never asked her what her name was nor did we invite her to sit down with us and eat her meal with us. She just smelled too bad.
The parents finished their meal and the father went out in the cold and snow to get the car. The mother picked Eric out of the highchair and probably prayed to herself, “Lord, let me get past this homeless woman before she says anymore to Eric.”
Walking by her, Eric immediately reached out to her with both arms in that “baby pick me up position” and leaped into her open arms.
Eric, in a total act of trust, love and submission, laid his tiny head on the woman’s shoulder. The woman’s eyes closed, and tears streamed down her face as she cradled little Eric’s bottom and stroked his back, gently rocking Eric back and forth. The mother was awestruck.
Looking directly at Eric’s mother the homeless woman said, “You take good care of your baby.” Eric clung to her but the woman lovingly pried Eric’s hands loose and handed him back to his mom.
To the mother, the homeless woman said, “God bless you ma’am. You’ve given me the best Christmas gift.”
The mother went away realizing that her tiny innocent child had seen no dirty clothes or dirty hair and made no judgments about the woman.
The ordinary becomes the extraordinary.
As these final days and hours of our Advent Journey come to a close, I suggest we continue to do ordinary acts of kindness and mercy out of love. It is love that will turn our ordinary acts into extraordinary acts.
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