Holy Spirit Catholic Church
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Fourth Sunday of
Advent
December 23, 2007
A while back, I read an article called "The Courage To Trust." In it the author said one day, purely by chance, she found herself on an airplane seated next to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On the opposite side of Dr. King was a middle-aged white man from the South.
During the flight the author and Dr. King talked about many things, including the improved relationship between blacks and whites. The middle-aged man from the South was obviously listening to the conversation but said nothing. Finally he broke his silence and said: "My children will have no trouble accepting these things. I have learned to accept them. But my father – he will never accept them."
Dr. King turned to the man and said compassionately, "Your father is doing what he believes is right." Moved by the remark, the man said to Dr. King, "Thank you for thinking that of my father." The author went on to say that Martin Luther King had the wonderful ability to trust that even his enemies, in their hearts, had the desire to do what was right.
I liked that article and story because I think it gets at the heart of today's readings, especially the Gospel reading. If there is one thing Mary and Joseph needed in connection with the birth of Jesus, it was trust!
First, Mary had to trust that even though she was a virgin, she would bear a child by the Holy Spirit. Mary trusted, and it was done to her as the angel said. Second, Joseph had to trust that Mary's pregnancy was indeed by the Holy Spirit and not by someone else. Joseph trusted, and received Mary into his home as his wife.
One of the most difficult things we are asked to do in life is to trust. And our trust must go in three directions. First, we must trust God, just as Mary and Joseph did. There's a story about the Protestant reformer Martin Luther. He used to go for early morning walks in the woods near his house. One morning he was observed to tip his hat to some birds and say: "Good morning, theologians. You wake up and sing a song. But I, an old fool, wake up and worry about everything, instead of trusting in my heavenly Father's care." And so the first trust we must have is trust in God. Psalm 84 tells us, "Happy are those who trust in God."
Second, we must trust each other, just as Mary and Joseph did. A good example of it is the circus trapeze performers that swing back and forth high in the air, catching each other at the last minute. Little children ask their mamas "Aren't they scared?" The answer is "No, they aren't scared. They trust each other!" And so the second trust we must have is trust in each other.
Finally, there is the most difficult trust of all. It is far more difficult than trusting in God or trusting in each other. It's trusting in ourselves, our own goodness as a Child of God. It’s trusting in our own value, that God made us for some special purpose.
Mary and Joseph had to make this difficult act of trust. They made it and unto them was born the Savior of the world. We too must make that same act of trust!
God sends each person into this world with a special message to deliver, with a special song to sing, with a special act of love to bestow. If we don't do it, a part of God’s plan goes unfulfilled! A part of God's glory goes unseen!
None of us in this church today is too young to speak our message, too old to sing our song, too weak to perform our act of love. Regardless of who we are, we have a mission in this world. It was given to us by God Himself.
And so, besides trusting in God, and besides trusting in one another, we must trust in ourselves. We must trust in our own goodness. We must trust in our own value. We must trust that God made us for some special purpose.
This prayer by Cardinal Newman speaks of the trust we must have in God, in one another, and in ourselves. Please pray it along with me in silence: "God has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission – I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I shall do good. Therefore, I will trust him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve him. God does nothing in vain. He may prolong my life, he may shorten it; he knows what he is about. O my God, I will put myself without reserve into your hands."