As Preached By Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church
Luke 1:26-38, Hebrews
2:11-18, Isaiah 52:7-10
In the name of the
Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit!
There was a time when
writing letters was a sign of intimacy with another person. Since letters were
hand written, one felt almost in touch with the other person, even to the point
of judging their well-being by the state of the calligraphy. If the
correspondence was between sweethearts or lovers, the letter might even be
scented. In the more distant past, letters would often be hand delivered.
Waiting for replies with expectation invested the correspondence with even more
power and emotion. And what a delight when that unexpected letter from a
seemingly long lost friend arrived! Letters were the basis of
many biographies as well as a resource for other historical research. For many
personalities of note, letters were edited and published.
Fast forward to the
21st century. Writing letters seems to have become a lost art. Hand writing has
all but vanished. Electronic correspondence is the norm. Email, texts, Twitter,
and other platforms—not to mention cell phones, iPhones, Zoom, FaceTime, and
other forms of image communication—have arisen. Communication is quick and
often is in short sound bites. The pace of life has speeded up, and contacting
people with messages can take seconds instead of days, weeks, or months. It is
very efficient. But maybe something has been lost. Maybe we are tempted to go
so fast that rather than living life we run right past it and miss it altogether.
In the monastery, the
expectation is that life is not about hurrying up but slowing down. This
slowing down is not about indolence, but rather about introspection and
contemplation. It is not about inaction but about refocusing on something
deeper. It is about trying to open our hearts more fully to God. Seeking God's
presence, entering into communion with God so that the lives we live are expressions
of God's love for us and all humanity.
Amidst the whirling
activity of 21st-century life we may have lost the capacity to wait, to listen,
to expect, to even notice when God is beckoning us to come closer to him. Do we
even recognize messages from God?
Tradition and
scripture tell us that Mary was brought up in the Temple of God. The temple
image intends to show us that she was brought up to experience the presence of
God in her life. So when the message from God came to her delivered by the angel
Gabriel, she was not overwhelmed by that message, overwhelming though it was. A
lesson for us from her story is that she was prepared for the message from God,
even though she was stunned by it. And her response was to accept the service
to humanity that she was being asked to undertake. Disturbing though it was,
she accepted it.
So, for us, Mary gives
us an example of how to respond to the word of God. Open and willing was her
response. What might ours be? And how might we know that God is sending us a
message at all?
The human condition
often leads us to place our will before that of God. If we want to go along
with the message we will, but if it disturbs our plans, we fight it. To be open
to respond in affirmation is our challenge.
And in this fast-paced
world of ours, slowing down to sift through the deluge of daily messages is the
first step. Noticing what is really coming our way, and being willing to
respond positively, particularly when we are being asked, or reminded, that
loving God means loving neighbor and responding to the needs of others when
that is in our power to do. Mary's yes to God was for the salvation of all
humankind. It wasn't for her convenience. It was for others. Maybe that is a
good measure to use when discerning from among all the incoming messages we
receive from our world of overactive stimuli what might really be the message
from God. Is it about us or others? Is it pricking my conscience? Is it
prompting me to be more conscious of the needs around me? Our Lenten journey is
a good time to sharpen our attentiveness to the needs of others. It takes time.
Slow down, and give it the time it needs.
Glory be to Jesus Christ
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