The story is told
about an elderly, spinster aunt who was a bit hard of hearing and
starting to show some signs of dementia or early Alzheimer’s disease.
On Sundays, her
nephews and nieces would rotate taking their beloved aunt to Mass and,
then, following Mass, having brunch with her at her favorite local diner.
Since she was such a loving woman, none of her nephews or nieces allowed
their aunt’s age, hearing, or mental disabilities keep them from
expressing their care for her even though it sometimes was a bit of a
challenge.
One Easter
Sunday when one of the nephews showed up at his aunt’s front door to
take her to Mass and brunch, he found her dressed in a robe and seated
in front of the television which was blaring a crowd that was shrieking “Crucify
him. Crucify him.” The elderly aunt was intently watching the second
half of the movie, Jesus of Nazareth.
Since time was
short, the nephew yelled at his aunt with a notable tone of
exasperation: “We’re going to be late for Easter Sunday Mass. Get upstairs right now
and get yourself ready for Church. For heavens sake, you watched that
movie last year.”
With that imperative
stated, the elderly aunt turned to her nephew and said, “Just you hold
on there, Mister. I’ve got to see how it’s going to turn out this
year.”
Most of us have
seen movies which depict what seems to be the endless conflict between
the forces of good and evil. Some are horrifying in as they depict
the evil that human beings perpetrate upon one another, like Jesus of Nazareth,
while others are
more explicit, like The Terminator series and The Exorcist,
in depicting horrific evils. Not only do scenes in movies like these
scare us, they are purposely intended to do so because they are
constructed upon the
presumption that, although we hope with all of our hearts, our minds are
plagued by doubt that in the end, good will emerge victorious over
evil. We fear that evil will somehow—just like the hand of the
dead villain—rise up from the ashes and the terrifying and bloody scene will start all over again.
The truth be told,
many times in our own lives—surrounded as we are by so many evils—we
find ourselves wondering whether, in the end, God will emerge victorious
in our own confrontations and battles with evil and its temptations.
If it’s not scary
movies that induce fear, sickness makes us afraid. How many people
fear going to the doctor to find out what they already know, namely,
they may well be ill? Many other people fear they will not be
loved or they fear the death of one who loves them. How many
teenagers wonder if they’ll ever find someone who loves them for who
they are? And, how many of our elderly worry about who is going to
die first, themselves or their spouse, and what will happen then?
Terrorism and war incite fear in our generation as does evil when it
suddenly appears in the form of crime. We all know the fear and
feelings of vulnerability we experienced on September 11, 2001, and some
of us know firsthand the fear and feelings of vulnerability having been
robbed in clear daylight, having heard someone attempting to break into
our homes in the dark of night, or having had our identity stolen
through some Internet scam.
All of these things
conspire to make us fearful and to wonder whether, in the end, good will
triumph over evil.
When the archangel
Gabriel appeared to Mary, she had every good reason to experience fear
and to wonder whether, in the end, good would triumph over evil. The
appearance of an angel would probably scare anyone of us. But, when
Gabriel announced that God had chosen Mary from among all women to be
the Mother of God’s only begotten Son, Mary had all the more reason to
be filled with fear and trepidation.
Betrothed to Joseph,
Mary knew full well that Joseph could dismiss Mary—what we would call
“divorce” her—for what, by all appearances, was incontrovertible evidence beyond
any shadow of a doubt that Mary was unfaithful to her betrothed. For her
alleged infidelity, Mary also knew that she would be subject to the
death penalty and probably suffer the criminal sanction of being stoned
to death. Perhaps inducing more fear and trepidation than all of
this was the thought that no one would ever believe Mary, her fantastic story
about “an angel” named Gabriel, and her plea that God had impregnated
her. Who’d ever believe any of that?
All of these
and other thoughts had to fill Mary with great fear and trepidation and
anguish as well.
But, it’s in these
precise circumstances that we can appreciate how Mary is very much like us.
She understands how fear can cause us to doubt whether, in the end, good
will triumph over evil. Mary’s humanity also helps us to recognize
her firsthand experience about how selfishness and self-delusion can negatively
influence the decisions we make. And, her humanity helps us to
grasp how
Mary also understands the harsh reality of sin and how easy it is to
give in to easy solutions and false promises because it appears that, in
the end, evil will win out.
Yet, in announcing
God’s message to Mary, Gabriel said: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you
have found favor with God.”
Imagine the dilemma
this announcement presented to Mary. Would she place her trust in God
and His ultimate victory? Or, would Mary allow fear and doubt about
God’s ultimate victory to influence her thoughts and decisions?
Like the story of
the elderly aunt, we already know the end of this story. Placing her
trust in God rather than in herself, Mary said to Gabriel, “Let it be
done to me as you say."
But, that knowledge
tempts us to think about Mary as being some sort of
“super woman” who God chose to be the mother of His Son. Yet, that
image contradicts what Gabriel saw when he appeared to Mary. She wasn’t
a super woman but one filled with fear and trepidation, one who had
every right to worry about where the events in her life might lead if
Mary were to abandon herself to God’s will as Gabriel announced it.
By abandoning herself to God’s will when Mary said “Let it be done to me as
you say,” Mary also reveals how very different she is from us. Conceived
without original sin, Mary overcame her fear and trusted in God’s
providence. Her "yes" has made it possible, through the birth of
her son, for us to be just like Mary, namely, freed from original sin in our baptism.
Mary’s legacy—her
conception without original sin—makes her a model of the favor God
bestowed not only upon her as a “highly favored daughter,” but on all of
us as adopted sons and daughters through the death and resurrection of
Mary’s son, Jesus Christ. Indeed, Mary was a real person, one who gave
a real and concrete “yes” to God’s invitation. And, because Mary did
not allow fear and doubt concerning where the events of her life would
lead her, Jesus, in his humanity, was able to give himself though his
own “yes” to God that transformed human history.
We all long to live
a life free from fear. Today’s feast in honor of the Immaculate
Conception of Mary, the Mother of God, challenges us to confront our own
fears and doubts with Mary’s “yes” that, in the end, witnesses our faith
and hope that God will emerge victorious over all of the evils
confronting us and our world. |