Tuesday, December 8, 2020              (today’s lectionary)
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The logic of piety
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. Sing joyfully to the Lord.
Family ties carry me from Urbana to Austin and back, sleeping in mostly comfortable, inexpensive motels along Interstates 30 and 40 along the way. I haven’t yet seen a family checking in to one of these Super 8’s and Days Inns, but only individual men, often tired and dirty, hard workers an hour after dark on these shortest days of the year, ready for sleep.
But I’m surprised. No families?
God our Father destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.
Today’s lectionary texts turn my heart toward my heavenly home. And that home has its basis here, now that Jesus has become an earthling. Jesus’ own humanity settles me into a solidly physical, earthly spiritual state. It was Teilhard de Chardin who said that we “are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Just like Jesus.
And as of 1854, just like Mary. The pope proclaimed what had been believed by many Christians since the seventh century. Just as Jesus was born without sin, so was his mother. When we call her theotokos, Mother of God, we use the logic of piety also to call her sinless.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.
Maybe we are all born without sin (Augustine could have been wrong about that), but none of us stay that way very long. Our families are intended to be cocoons, protecting us as we grow into adult “spiritual beings.” You and I both know how imperfect a process that is. But nevertheless, it’s the plan God has for us.
I think of Adam, God’s first son when he ran away nearly naked through the woods, and his Dad called out to him. “Wherefore art thou, Adam?” And Eve soon after, left emotionally naked by Adam’s accusation. And their Father’s tough love, banning them from the Garden he had prepared for them. God’s original blessing had taken a turn toward sin.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers. He will strike at your head while you strike at his heel.
But God’s commitment to the family did not waver, and the rich, multi-colored stories of the Torah prove it. God our Father, and our Mother, persistently turns our hearts back toward home. Now, in these few short weeks of Advent, we watch him do it again, only this time as Chesterton points out, He begins the family with the Child.
Do not be afraid, Mary. You will conceive and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the most High, and of his Kingdom there shall be no end.
In Austin, one year old Jasper surrounds us with his curiosity and speed. He gets into anything and everything in record time. Andi darts after him over and over all day. Aki speaks sternly sometimes and always keeps the child’s safety door to the kitchen locked. Miles, who is three years older than Jasper, contributes his own games and activities, which fascinate Jasper more than anything.
Behold Elizabeth, your relative, has conceived a son in her old age, for nothing will be impossible for God.
We grandparents can’t keep up like we could when our kids were one and three, and then later one and four and six. Our role is different now, and as we settle into Austin at Christmas and stay awhile, God’s family ties will bind us and bless us together.
Mary replied to the angel Gabriel, “I am the handmaiden of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
(Genesis 3, Psalm 98, Ephesians 1, Luke 1)
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