Mi 5:1-4a / Heb 10:5-10 / Lk 1:39-45
During the First World War, a unit of soldiers was pinned down in “no man’s land.” Shells were exploding on all sides and the cries of the dying were everywhere. One young soldier wanted to go out and retrieve his wounded buddy. But the lieutenant stopped him, “Don’t be stupid. He’s dead, and if you go out there, you’ll be dead too.”
“But I want to go. I have to go,” the soldier persisted. But the officer would have none of it.
The soldier ignored the lieutenant’s orders and headed over the rim of the foxhole and out into the open field. Hours later he returned, dragging his dead friend, and badly wounded himself.
“You see,” shouted the lieutenant. “I told you it wasn’t worth it!”
The wounded soldier disagreed, “Oh yes, it was worth it. You see when I found him, he was still alive. And when I knelt to pick him up, he looked into my eyes and said, “Jim, I knew you’d come.”
It was worth it. But it doesn’t always feel that way. At times life can wear us down. It can flatten us with a few quick punches, or slowly run us into the ground with the endless repetitiveness of things that go on and on and never get finished. Ask any parent, any spouse, any businessman, any child, any priest!
When that dark moment inevitably creeps up on us — full of weariness or sadness, pain of soul or downright terror — there’s a voice inside us that whispers, “Forget it. This is never going to work. It’s not worth it. So run for your life!”
In Sunday’s Gospel Mary, pregnant with Jesus, had been living in just that kind of moment for half a year, since the appearance of the angel with his crazy news. She was just fourteen, scared and confused. There was no one she could talk to; and that sneaky little voice inside her was working overtime: “Run for your life, Mary,” it kept saying.
But she didn’t run. She just kept repeating her “yes” to the Lord, over and over again, “Yes, Lord, whatever you ask. Whatever’s needed. None of this makes any sense to me, but I know you love me, Lord, and you wouldn’t ask this if it weren’t for the good.” And so, as she spoke one “yes”, the Lord gave her the grace to speak the next one, and then the next, and the next, one at a time. And thus, one moment at a time she was faithful to the very end!
That’s the way it is when the tough times come and it’s hard to keep faith with one another, and hard to stand firm in our commitments. The Lord is there, though he may not seem to be.
And he’s whispering to us too: “It is worth it,” he says. “You’re doing good work. So don’t give up. I’m right here with you. I’ll give you what you need as you need it — always enough for the day. So stand firm. Give me your hand, and I’ll see you all the way home.”
That’s what he did for Mary, and that’s exactly what he wants to do for you and me! Thanks be to God!
