Advent 4 B (2023)

An angel is an intermediary: speaking words from God.

The angel Gabriel had quite a lot to say today:

greeting Mary with honour, calming her fears,

announcing that she will have a child who personifies God’s salvation,

and whose kingdom will have no end;

dealing with Mary’s ‘How?’: the Holy Spirit will overshadow you;

bringing good news about Elizabeth.

A lot of words, a lot to take in…..

Mary, graced by God, accepts God’s future for her:

Here am I, the servant of the Lord;

let it be with me according to your word

…though she knows little of what lies ahead.

The angel’s message gives no clue that her son’s throne will be a cross.

Mary accepts, and the angel left her.

This is much, much more than a ‘stage direction’.

Words give way to silence; and in silence, the Spirit moves,

God’s Son and Mary’s son is conceived.

This moment of most profound communication between God and Mary,

between God and the whole of humanity,

is a moment of silence.

A moment mirrored on Calvary. In John’s account,

Mary is there too, as bowing his head he gave (up) his spirit:

words give way to silence;

and in silence, the Spirit moves – gifted by Jesus to his followers.

The silence of conception, the silence of death:

– all earthly notions of power, of authority, absent –

moments of deepest communion between God and humanity.

God who lays everything aside to be with us.

We have such a moment in our Mass.

In the middle of the Eucharistic prayer,

Fr John shows us the consecrated host and shows us the chalice:

a moment of silence.  .….. 

God is with us.