Archbishop of Sydney

Fourth Sunday of Advent - Youth Mass

St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney
Micah 5:1-4; Heb 10:5-10; Lk 1:39-44

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
21 December 2003

 Almost on the eve of Christmas, we should retrace with the help of the readings some of the basics of the feast we are about to celebrate.

 The future ruler of Israel was expected to come from Bethlehem, which was not a wealthy suburb of Jerusalem, not a playground for the rich, not the site of an elite school.  It was home to the least of the clans of Judah and God was promising, in Micah’s prophecy, to abandon his people until “she who is to give birth gives birth”.

 At Christmas we celebrate the birth of the man-god, who will become our redeemer.  But especially now we should not forget the baby’s mother, Mary, the principal actor/agent in the story, the one who had to do most of the work, with the help of her husband Joseph.

 Catholics, Orthodox and many Anglicans and Protestants have great devotion to Jesus’ mother but opposition to this devotion was a burning issue at the Reformation.  Even today some Protestant groups have no public devotions to Mary.

 This is a pity as Mary has a prominent place in the New Testament.  She is “full of grace” and “all ages will call her blessed”.  In today’s Gospel, Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth and is greeted thus “of all women you are the most blessed and blessed is the fruit of your womb”.  But, in many ways Mary does not fit our conventional patterns.

 Two thousand years ago Palestine was very different.  There were no teenagers.  Adolescence is a modern invention, like secondary education and today some, often rich and overeducated, can still be adolescent at 35.  In those ancient days there was only a sudden transition, often brutal, between childhood and adult life.

 In all probability Mary was like her contemporaries and gave birth to Jesus when she was thirteen or fourteen.  The Scriptures also do not tell us anything about Joseph’s age, but ancient traditions describe him as a much older man, and this is plausible.
 Bible Christians of every denomination believe that Jesus was divine and had no human father.  This is taught by the New Testament and believed in faith.

 Sexual misbehaviour by women was then a capital offence, so it is not surprising that Joseph had decided to divorce his fiancée quietly when he discovered her pregnancy; before he was reassured in a dream.

 All Jesus’ natural characteristics came from his mother, although there is no doubt that the loving nurture of Joseph and the extended family contributed also.

 The beauty of Jesus’ character, his faith and piety, his wisdom and strength, his charisma for leadership and courage would have been impossible without Mary’s love, care and example; and her genes.

 It is no coincidence that some of civilization’s greatest paintings (Da Vinci’s “La Madonna Litta”; the Vladimir Madonna), sculptures (Michelangelo’s “Pieta”) and music (the “Ave Maria” of Schubert or Bach and Gounod) are centred on Mary.

 She was a woman of faith, grace and strength, who had a hard life, giving birth in a cave, later a political refugee in Egypt, who lived to see her son crucified.

 Christians believe that only God is worthy of worship.  Therefore Mary is not worshipped, but reverenced; prayed to as someone who has special influence with God.  She points to God through her son, and is reverenced more as a model of faith and practice than as a mother.

 The Catholic Church also teaches that Mary remained a virgin, despite the Scriptural references to “the brothers of Jesus”, traditionally seen as cousins.

 The Catholic (i.e. Western & Eastern, Orthodox and Roman) devotion to Mary is one of the most wonderful Christian contributions to piety and culture.

 Hardline feminists are generally hostile to Our Lady.  I remember hearing a feminist Scripture scholar give a talk on women in the Scriptures and never mention, Mary, Mother of God.  Not a bad effort!

I suppose they are opposed to the concept of virginity, perhaps opposed to giving respect to motherhood.

Another possible reason is found in the second reading where Christ announces that he has come to do God’s will, just as Mary did at the visitation, when she consented to the Incarnation, announced that she would cooperate with God’s plan.  The new pagans love personal autonomy, refusing sub-ordination to anyone, even God.

Christmas should remind us, and especially Mary’s cooperation should remind us that the most important task in life is to do God’s will – usually by keeping the commandments.  We are not here to do our own thing, write our own rules, disregard or hurt others, choose evil.

Sometimes, many times, it is hard to know which good option to choose, but our general direction, our basic option should be clear: to follow Christ and his mother Mary in their willingness to do God’s will.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.