Reflection for December 20
Are our hearts ready for Christmas? This is the question that Advent asks.
How can we prepare our hearts for the birth of the incarnate Word? As ever, Mary is our model.
We must ponder and treasure the presence of Christ in our hearts, as Mary does in the first chapters of Luke. In this passage today, we hear that Mary ponders the angel’s greeting: “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” The greeting is surprising and mysterious. Mary can’t comprehend it. So often we turn away from what we cannot comprehend, but not Mary. She ponders. Even as she was “greatly troubled” she “pondered what sort of greeting this might be.” Her pondering is an active and participatory form of awe. It is her pondering that prepares her to say ”yes” to God’s will. Pondering requires a deep structure of attention to one thing. We have largely lost our ability to ponder because our attention is so fragmented. In this Advent season, can we ponder the incarnate Word?
After the birth of Jesus, we hear again about Mary’s inner life, the working of her heart. In Luke 2:19, after the shepherds adore the newborn savior, the text says that Mary “treasured up” and “pondered” all these things in her heart. The text is translated smoothly in the lectionary: “And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” A more literal rendering of the Greek text would give us “treasure up” (synetērei) in the place of “keep” and “ponder” (symballousa) in the place of “reflect.” The lectionary translation is excellent, and I make no criticism of it (and you will forgive me for referencing the Greek), but these literal renderings give us a springboard to dive into a deeper reflection in our own hearts.
To treasure something deeply is to ponder it, and pondering something is a way of treasuring it.
Mary’s wisdom is an embodied contemplation of the incarnate Word. The one who bore us a savior in her womb teaches us how to bear him in our hearts. Can we take some time this Advent to ponder and treasure the mystery of the incarnation? Finding some time in silence might be a good first step. And if this sort of pondering does not come easily to you, perhaps you might pray the Hail Mary. The one who brought Christ to us will bring you to Christ.
Note: For further reading on the heart of Mary in these passages from Luke, please see Pope Francis’ final encyclical letter Delixit Nos (“He loved us”) section 19.
Noel Terranova