
Are you ready for a miracle?
As ready as I can be
Are you ready for a miracle?
The spirit will set you free
Are you ready, ready, ready, ready?
I’m ready; I am ready for a miracle.
My Dear Sisters and Brothers! Some centuries prior to the Birth of Christ the prophet Micah delivered God’s message that the inconspicuous town of Bethlehem, where once the great king David was born, would see a miracle, would see again a royal birth: ‘Out of you will be born for me the one who is to rule over Israel, his origin goes back to the distant past, to the days of old.’ It was indeed a mysterious prophesy. How could a new born baby be older than the king who died a few centuries earlier?
Are you ready for a miracle? Are you ready for God stepping into the course of human history? That’s what happened on the day when Joseph and his wife Mary came to Bethlehem for the census. Tomorrow night we will fall to our knees at the words of the Profession of Faith: ‘For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven and by the Holy Spirit he was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man.’ Before we say these words we will also say something Micah and his contemporaries couldn’t fully comprehend. Filled with the faith we will profess: ‘I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages.’ The Son of God already existed when King David ruled. He existed when Abraham was travelling to the Holy Land. He existed when Adam and Eve were called to life. He existed when the universe was created. In fact ‘through him all things were made.’ His footprints are all over the world. They have been there from the time of creation. If people missed them in the Old Testament it was because they didn’t know to whom those footprints belonged.
In the Letter to the Hebrews we mediate today on Jesus’ words addressed to his Heavenly Father: ‘You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation, prepared a body for me.’ The Son of God who existed as Spirit two thousand years ago was given flesh like ours at the moment we call the Annunciation. In the Gospel for this last Sunday of Advent we are given one of the first moments after Jesus was conceived in the Virgin Mary. Where do we find Mary carrying the most precious treasure in the whole Universe? Is she in the magnificent Jerusalem Temple which was built as God’s dwelling on earth? It would be a fitting place for the precious Baby. Is she in the most sacred room of the Temple where only the High Priest was allowed to enter and only once a year? It would be the best place, not only the most sacred place but also the most secure place. She and her Divine Child would be safe there, very safe. No, she is not there. She who is now the new tabernacle of God’s presence on Earth is found in ‘the hill country of Judah.’ Did she go there because it was the safest place for her and her Child? No, it wasn’t the reason. She, who while conversing with the Archangel Gabriel described herself as ‘a lowly handmaid of the Lord’ proved that it wasn’t just words. Upon hearing that her aged cousin Elizabeth was pregnant Mary went to the elderly expectant mother, not to check it out, not to verify whether it was possible for Elizabeth to be pregnant, but to serve the old woman in her time of need. Mary was ready for a miracle. She was ready for God stepping into the course of the human history.
My Dear Fellow believers! Our time of waiting for Christmas is nearly over. Tomorrow we, the disciples of Jesus Christ, will gather in magnificent cathedrals and obscure mission chapels to celebrate his Birth. Before we do that I ask you: Are you ready for a miracle? Are you ready to make room for Christ in your life? Ask Our Blessed Mother to intercede for you. Pray often the words first prayed by Elisabeth: ‘Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, JESUS.’