LOVE

WE ALL WANT TO BE LOVED

but love is a two-edged sword. On the one side, it is fearful. On the other, fearless.

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For God so loved the world

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WHAT MUST IT HAVE BEEN LIKE FOR MARY

attempting to explain to her parents how she is carrying in her womb the Son of God? The Messiah. The long promised and hoped for deliverer of the Jewish people. To reassure them she had not had a man, but rather a divine encounter with the Angel Gabriel and how she had agreed to do this and how it had been for her just like the Angel had said. The Holy Spirit overshadowing … like a cloud … “and Ima, Papa, I am having a son and I am to call Him, Jesus.”

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that he gave his one and only Son

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Really? Were voices raised? Perhaps. Questions asked? Most certainly. Disbelief? Skeptical looks? How can there not have been? And then, gazing into the eyes of their beautiful and much-loved daughter, quiet conversations punctuated by long intervals of silence. And tears. A mother’s loving arms. A father’s pacing, protecting, preparing …

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And finally, acceptance. As incredulous as it has sounded, belief in their daughter, her veracity, her virginity, in what she is telling them, wins out. It must be true. And then more questions. Since this has happened, how do we protect her? What will we say and do? And the man she is pledged to marry, what will he say and do? And the village people, our neighbors and friends, what will they say and do? What stories will be told? So many questions.

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Sometimes we must dare to believe in one another, trust in one another, rely on one another before we can believe and trust and rely upon the only true God.

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that whoever believes in him

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A PLAN. IT IS DECIDED

Mary will go to Zechariah, a relative and Levitical priest and his wife, Elizabeth, who is herself a descendant of Aaron. The Angel has told Mary that Elizabeth is pregnant, too. Another miracle. If anyone would understand and embrace her during this time, surely they will. Mary and her mother pack food and clothing for the journey. Mary is anxious. Who will walk with her? It is too far and too dangerous to travel alone. Will her father go with her? Her mother? Or will she make the journey with strangers, a caravan of merchants and pilgrims? The morning arrives. Hugs and kisses. Goodbyes.

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It is an eighty mile trek from Nazareth to Ein Karem. Each day the Messiah will be taking on flesh within her. Will she be able to keep up while walking on dirt pathways and rutted roads through Galilee, Samaria, the Jordan River Valley, and finally the climb through the hills of Judea? Will there be mood swings? Headaches and heartburn? A metallic taste in her mouth? Morning sickness? Will there be days it will feel good to be walking, and days she can’t make herself take another step?

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shall not perish but

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IS SHE ANXIOUS

when at last she walks up the path to the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth? They are relatives, yes, but will they welcome her? And they are old.[1] She knocks on the door, tentative at first, then again with firmness. The door opens and for a moment an old woman and a young teen look inquiringly at each other.

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“Hello … Elizabeth? I am Mary, Joachim and Anne‘s daughter.”

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When Elizabeth hears Mary’s greeting, her own child leaps in her womb in a way she’d not experienced before, and she is filled afresh with the Holy Spirit. Opening her arms and her face alight, she?exclaims, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”[2]

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And as Mary steps across the threshold of Elizabeth’s home …

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THE ‘MAGNIFICAT’ WELLS UP IN HER SPIRIT

and spills across her lips in song.[3]

“My soul glorifies the Lord

????????and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

????????for he has been mindful

????????of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

????????for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

????????holy is his name.

His mercy extends to those who fear him,

????????from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

????????he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones

????????but has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things

????????but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

????????remembering to be merciful

????????to Abraham and his descendants forever,

????????just as he promised our ancestors.”

So Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

God’s love. Pretty amazing isn’t it? Fearful. Fearless. A holy gift wrapped in love and a promise that if we believe God loves us like this and has given himself to us like this, we may …

have eternal life.[4]

Merry Christmas, my friend.

May Jesus keep us close.

[1] The Bible says only that Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah were old. In the extra-biblical Mandaean Gospel of John the Baptizer, Elizabeth is said to be 88 when she gave birth to John.

[2] Luke 1:41-45

[3] Luke 1:48-55

[4] John 3:16