More than five hundred teenaged girls arrived at my place this morning. Some brought various musical instruments, others brought prepared texts, and some brought their senses of wonder and excitement. What was the occasion you ask?
For the first time in a number of years, students from Marymount Academy, one of the neighboring High Schools came to the church to celebrate an Advent Mass with the Bishop of the diocese.
The divine irony about this was that the gospel passage proper for today speaks of the apparition of the angel Gabriel to Mary of Nazareth. Conscious of the fact that we were in the presence of five hundred other young ladies, each of which could have been that young girl who met an angel so many years ago, I started to wonder. How would a young woman greet such an occurence today? Would it be much different from Mary's encounter? Would there still be questioning and wondering? Would such a recipient still ponder such a happening in the same way?
Then I went on ... perhaps there are many among this very group who do indeed wonder, ponder, muse and yes even pray about the decisions they must make in life. They may not be willing to show this vulnerable part of themselves to too many others, but at times a hardened exterior hides a lot.
In his homily, the bishop referred to his annual message to the faithful of the diocese and invited those present to ponder the gift that is given this Christmas, and how they in turn are called to be gifts to one another and to others they meet. In this way, he touched on a common call that is given to all of us: God never gives a gift without asking that we use it to proclaim his presence.
How is Christ calling us to make a difference in the world today? What are the risks involved? Are we willing to accept His invitation or is there still something holding us back?
3 comments:
Fr. Tony,
Thank you for the reflection on our visit to Christ the King today. Indeed, many of the young women present could have been the same age as Mary when the angel greeted her with such awesome news. And true, what might their response be if God were to bring such news to their young hearts today? In listening to their comments, I do know that once they got back to Marymount, the experience did make a tremendous impact on them. And in a culture so different than that of our Blessed Mother, to have young women today be so taken by the work of God in our liturgy, truly that is a gift worth celebrating. Thank you and the people of Christ the King for giving us the gift of your hospitality during this holy season. And finally, thank you goes out to Bishop Plouffe for his time and energy in helping us celebrate the coming of the Lord. I guess we are all gift to one another.
You have a beautiful gift of reaching out to others and giving us pause to wonder at the message you are relaying, if even for a moment. And this is all that is needed for Jesus to enter our hearts. Thank you so very much. I am sorry I missed the early morning liturgy with the Bishop and Marymount students. I just know it was a wonderful experience for those who attended.
P.S. I wish I knew all the answers to your questions in the last paragraph. And yes I get your message to spread the word of God's presence here and now.
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