A really funny scene from the move Return to Me is on my mind because of our readings today. For those who haven’t seen it, Return to Me is a very sweet romantic comedy from the year 2000, which follows the story of a construction manager, Bob Rueland, as he mourns the sudden passing of his wife. A year later when Bob meets Grace, they immediately hit it off and fall in love. The twist is that Grace was the recipient of a heart transplant from Bob’s wife when she died. When Bob and Grace first meet, she is blissfully unaware of this fact, but when she finds out that Bob’s wife was the donor of her new heart, she is devastated. At this point in the movie, we see Grace run to her good friend Megan for support. Throughout the movie, you see the close relationship between Grace and Megan and Megan’s husband, Joe, played by Jim Belushi. Joe is quite a character – big, brash and a bit irreverent. So as Grace is crying with Megan, Joe comes in and immediately assumes that Grace has had her heart broken by Bob. He jumps to the conclusion that Bob was already married and was cheating with Grace. He goes completely berserk and starts yelling that he will beat the crap out of Bob if Grace wants him to. To break Joe out of his frenzy, Megan shouts out: “Grace has Bob’s dead wife’s heart!” I laugh at the dark comedy of that line every single time. But it is effective. Joe then has this amazing look of bewilderment and walks off with his kids, asking calmly if they want ice cream.
Now imagine that you are one of those shepherds we hear about in today’s Gospel. You had this incredible and possibly terrifying encounter with a host of angels who sent you to see the Messiah and Lord, who, bizarrely, is a newborn baby laid in a feeding trough. So you go and find the baby just as the angels said, and somehow, seeing this baby and His parents changes something inside you. In fact, you can’t help but tell people about this baby and what the angels said about Him. This was how God the Son desired to come into the world. He came at an unexpected time, in an unexpected place, to unexpected parents. But His coming was nonetheless powerful. God among us, even as a baby, had a profound effect on all those He encountered. You can see this in the reaction of those who heard the story the shepherds excitedly spread. Luke tells us: “All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.”
I pray that this amazement is something that we modern day Christians can rekindle. Most of us have heard this Gospel passage hundreds of times. Let’s not let our familiarity with this amazing story blind us to the unbelievably Good News contained in it. Let’s let ourselves be amazed, even dumbfounded by the profoundness of what God has done for us. Like the character of Joe in Return to Me, let’s allow this story to astound us. Joe was all wrapped up in his usual mode of life. He assumed he knew what was going on with his friend and reacted in an over-the-top manner, probably as he would have for any friend that he thought needed his protection. But his wife’s proclamation of the crazy, but true situation of their friend forcibly yanked him out of his normal mode of reactivity. It brought him to, perhaps, a more contemplative place.
So it can be with each of us. It is easy for us to just pack our Christmas decorations away in the closet and get on with our normal, day-to-day activities, but that would be a disservice to the amazing Good News being proclaimed throughout this holy season of Christmas. God is with us! This is not just any child we celebrate. Mary didn’t just give birth to a guru, some moral teacher who would eventually die a tragic death at the hands of the Romans. No! Mary, this humble woman, was the Mother of God! The Word through Whom God created the universe, the One who brought light, order and direction to the Cosmos. This One humbled Himself and took on our humanity in Mary’s womb and was born from her in the humblest of circumstances. God became a humble baby and later a humble teacher and preacher. Then God allowed Himself to be offered up for each and every one of us, as the perfect offering, to take away our sins. Who could have ever predicted this amazing miracle?
And at this very moment, Jesus’ human heart still beats for all of us. The humanity that God assumed and died, also rose gloriously in His resurrection. Right now, Jesus is here for us as a brother, friend, and our Savior to give us everything we need to live transformed lives, free from the horrible darkness of sin and unafraid of death, because He has come down and conquered it for us!
I pray that the Holy Spirit rekindles that wonder in us as we ponder Jesus’ birth through Mary today. We celebrate Mary as Mother of God because truly she was the mother of God made man. In that manger, Mary looked upon the face of God Himself and was able to kiss Him. For each of us, the opportunity remains to enjoy deep intimacy with the God-Man, as Mary did. Each time we receive the Eucharist, God gives us the opportunity to pour out our hearts to HIm, to be united so deeply with Him that our wills become united to His; that His strength fills us where we are weak; that His dreams for our life begin to fill our imaginations. What marvelous, incredible, unforeseen gifts we have been given as His sons and daughters!
So I invite you to pray for a deepening of your faith. Right now, take a moment in your heart to ask the Father to deepen your faith. When we allow our hearts to soak in that grace the Father so generously pours out, we, like Mary in the Gospel today, can ponder in our hearts the incredible and awe-inspiring mysteries that we get to share in as Christian people. Praise God for this incredible privilege. Mary, Mother of God, please help us to have hearts of amazement at all God has done and is doing for us!
+ Heavenly Father, thank you for the great blessing of allowing your Son to be born of a human Mother on Christmas. Jesus, thank you for giving Mary as a mother to all of us from the Cross. Help us to lean on her motherly care. Holy Spirit, open our hearts more fully to ponder the great mystery of God with us today and every day. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen. +