Advent Devotional 12-1-21

Luke 1:39-45

39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

During the season of Advent, we prepare for the celebration of the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. We celebrate our Lord who became man and by His cross and resurrection gives us hope that one day we will be called home for an eternal life reunited with Him. It is this hope that is given to us abundantly. However, we also need to share hope. Because with hope brings our greatest strength: joy. Joy in what our God has done for us in the past, joy in His presence in our lives, and the joy of His second coming. We don’t know when He will come again, but by sharing the hope that He will, we spread His joy to others and invite them to receive the gift of eternal life.

The gospel above resonates with me because of how our Virgin Mother lived. From the moment Mary is empowered by hope to consent to being the mother of God, she can’t keep all the joy to herself. She goes on a journey to bring this joy to Elizabeth. Mary, quite literally, brings Jesus Christ to her sister. Mary is Jesus’ first disciple and an excellent model of how we should live our lives as disciples of Christ. It was her devotion of hope that willed her to humbly say yes to being the mother of our Lord. It was her hope which brought her to her sister. It was hope in which she became His first disciple, raised Him, and was at His side during His sorrowful passion.

It is because of each of these events that we today receive the gift of hope. On top of it all, Mary was human. So, today let us have the faith that we could one day put hope at the center of our lives just like her in order to share hope with others.

Let us pray.

Dear Jesus Christ, we love you. Thank you for becoming man and dying on the cross so that we may be one day reunited with you. Thank you for the gift of many saints, disciples, and our holy mother as examples of how to spread your love, hope, and joy to others. We ask of you today, with your abundance of grace, to bestow upon us a firm hope and a strong faith. While accompanied by the Holy Spirit, grant us the courage to go forth and spread your goodness to others. Amen.