Advent is Mary’s seasonDecember 02, 2024

This past Sunday, we were invited into Advent, that very special Church season that signals the beginning of another liturgical year. In times past Advent was often presented as a penitential period, not as solemn as Lent but nevertheless not filled with much happiness either.

After the post-Vatican II liturgical revisions this emphasis shifted to a focus on the joy of expectancy, of awaiting the miracles of Christ’s birth in time and Christ’s coming again. Yes, we seek to prepare ourselves for Christmas by examining where we fall short in our relationship with God; however, we do this with a conviction of deep joy.

In The Reed of God, Caryll Houselander sees Mary as the slender reed through which the Savior came into our world. “God had taken His little reed into His hands and the breath of His love sang through it, and this utterance would go on for all generations. In giving her humanity to God, Mary gave all humanity to Him, to be used for His own will.”

Advent is Mary’s season; during it, I find it helpful to meditate on Mary’s role in the story of our salvation and in my own story. I invite you to do the same. I offer these reflective questions to get us started.

• How am I a reed through which God’s love sings?
• Am I listening to God’s song of love with open hands as was Mary’s stance?
• If Mary’s “Fiat” gave all of us to God, how do I see my own call to fulfill God’s will? Do I search for the deeper meaning of my call or do I run the other way?
• Can I talk with Mary about how she accepted all of life’s joys along with its sorrows?
• What might Mary’s way of life inspire in me?

Let us slow down enough during Advent to pray as did Mary, who “kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2:19

Sister Virginia DeVinne