2 Sam7:1-5, 8-11, 16 / Romans 16:25-27 / Luke 1:26-38
Today is the 21st December. In the month of December when the date begins with a “2”, then it means one thing.
It means that Christmas is nearly here. After all it is just a few more days away. That would sound scary if we haven’t even put up the Christmas tree yet!
How can we not be aware that Christmas is nearly here?
In fact, for the rest of the world, Christmas is not nearly here; Christmas seems to be already here.
Since mid-November, the shopping malls and the supermarkets are already playing Christmas music.
And by now, most companies would already have had their Christmas parties and all that.
So it seems that Christmas Day, the 25th December, is the final day for Christmas celebrations.
And Christmas presents are already given out before Christmas Day. Not only given out but maybe opened already before Christmas Day.
So even though Christmas is nearly here, for the rest of the world, Christmas is already here, and maybe over and done with.
But whether it is nearly here or already here, the Christmas event, whether religious or otherwise, seems to have been taken for granted.
It is taken for granted in the sense that we expect it to happen, and that it must happen.
But today’s gospel passage reminds us that Christmas nearly did not happen.
Today’s gospel passage is commonly known as the “Annunciation” and we are familiar with the dialogue between the angel Gabriel and Mary.
We take it for granted that Mary will say yes to all that the angel Gabriel told her.
But when we take a closer look at the passage, then we may realize that Christmas nearly did not happen.
Because when the angel Gabriel greeted Mary, she was deeply disturbed by his words and she wondered what it could mean.
And then she questioned the possibility of her conceiving a child since she was a virgin.
Even though the angel Gabriel told Mary that nothing is impossible with God, that did not necessarily and satisfactorily answer her questions.
But in the end, Mary accepted what was told to her by the angel Gabriel.
So as we can see, Christmas nearly did not happen. And if Mary had said no, then Christmas would not have happened.
For Christmas to happen, Mary had to lay aside her plans and go
along with God’s plans.
Similarly in the 1st reading, king David had to lay aside his plans to build a house for God. Instead God would build a house for him, and that house and David’s sovereignty will always stand secure before the Lord and David’s throne will be established forever.
Yes, God’s ways are higher than man’s ways and God’s thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts. When we go along with God’s ways, then the Christmas event is happening again.
But that would mean that we have to let go of our ambitions and directions and go along the way of God.
There is this story of a teacher, Miss Hazel, who had ambitions of being a principal and even a superintendent of schools.
But in her class was this boy, Teddy, who certainly qualified as the last and the least. He was disinterested, untidy, messy, with a deadpan face, expressionless and with a glassy unfocused stare.
Whenever Miss Hazel spoke to Teddy, he always answered in monosyllables.
But Miss Hazel played her cards carefully. Although she would say that she cared for all in her class, deep down inside her she wasn’t being completely truthful. She disliked and resented Teddy.
Even then, she knew more about Teddy’s family background than she wanted to admit. The records read like this:
Teddy shows promise with his work and attitude but poor home situation.
He could do better. Mother seriously ill and he receives little help at home.
Teddy is good boy but a slow learner. His mother died this year.
His father shows no interest in him.
Well, it was Christmas time and the boys and girls in Miss Hazel’s class brought her Christmas presents.
They piled their presents on her desk and crowded around to watch her open them.
Among the presents, there was one from Teddy. She was surprised that he had brought her a gift. It was wrapped in brown paper and held together with scotch tape, and written with these words: For Miss Hazel, from Teddy.
When she opened Teddy’s present, out fell a gaudy jade-stone bracelet, with a couple of stones missing, and half a bottle of cheap perfume.
The other children began to giggle and smirk over Teddy’s gifts, but Miss Hazel had enough of sense to silence them by putting on the bracelet and spraying some of the perfume on her wrist.
And then holding her wrist up for the children to smell, she said, “Doesn’t it smell nice?”, and the children taking the cue from her, nodded with “oohs” and “aahs”.
At the end of the day, when the other children had left, Teddy lingered behind. Then he slowly came over to her desk and said softly, “Miss Hazel … Miss Hazel … you smell just like my mother … and her bracelet looks real pretty on you too. I’m glad you liked my presents.”
When Teddy left, a stunned Miss Hazel got down on her knees and begged God to forgive her.
The next day when the children came to school, they had a “new” teacher. Miss Hazel had become a different person. She was no longer just a teacher; she had become an agent of God.
She was now a person committed to loving her children and doing things for them that would live on after her. She helped all the children, especially the slow ones and especially Teddy.
By the end of the school year, Teddy showed dramatic improvement and had caught up with most of the students.
Well, Teddy moved on to another class and Miss Hazel had a new class of students to teach.
Then one day, she received a note that read: Dear Miss Hazel, I wanted you to be the first to know that I came in second in my class. Love, Teddy.
Four years later, another note came: Dear Miss Hazel, they just told me that I will be graduating with honours in my class. I want you to be the first to know. The university has not been easy but I liked it. Love Teddy.
Another four years later – Dear Miss Hazel, I wanted you to know to be the first to know that I am getting married. I want you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive. You are the only family I have now. Dad died last year. Love, Teddy.
Well, Miss Hazel went to Teddy’s wedding and sat where Teddy’s mother would have sat, and of course, wearing that bracelet and that perfume.
She deserved to sit there; she had done something for Teddy that he could never forget.
And as she sat there, she thought to herself, “This is better than being a school superintendent.”
Certainly it is. When we let go of our ambitions and our plans and our directions, and go along the way of the Lord, we become gifts to ourselves and we become gifts to others.
Mary showed us how to do it. When we do what she did, then Christmas is not only nearly here, it is also already here.