The WORD in ADVENT - Living the Reign here and now #19

Trust, Surrender to the Lord!

Thursday, December 20, 2018
Isaiah 7: 1-14; Luke 1: 26-38

Living the Reign here and now demands that we trust the Lord, trust in the Lord's promises and Surrender ourselves to the Lord. The world today seems lost and dissipated because by and large it has lost any solid foundation on which to base itself. The famous title of the book by Zygmunt Bauman sets us think - 'the Liquid Times'. Everything and everybody seems so flimsy and fragile that the moment you begin to feel secure, things fall apart. And there is only one thing that we can stand firm on; and Christmas says it all - the promises of God!

We started the Advent journey with this reflection, remember? We stand on the promises of God. They alone do not fail us, come what may. The readings today bring this out in such vivid fashion that we do not need any interpretation to it. The first reading presents the promise made in King Ahaz's time and the Gospel presents the realisation of that promise. And in all this, Mary finds a special role. 

Mary's YES to the Lord was an absolute trust placed in the promises of the Lord and a total self surrender that followed: Behold, the handmaid of the Lord! Her yes did not stop with the Angel disappearing but it continued all her life; she founded herself on the promises of God and as Elizabeth declares, "Blessed is the one who believes that what God promised will come true!"

Emmanuel, the Lord with us, is the only true foundation living with us. It is the Lord who resides with us and strengthens our confidence in this life through the promises and inspiring us to trust, that all God's promises will come true. When we truly trust in the Lord, a surrender follows and in this surrender to the Lord, we begin to live the Reign here and now.