Keeping hope alive

Today's readings: 2 Samuel 7, 1-5.8-11.16; Romans 16, 25-27; Luke 1, 26-38.

We believe in a powerful God, a God for whom "nothing is impossible". Yet His promises can come true only through our obedience of faith. God promised David through Nathan the prophet that the Messiah would be descended from Him.

This hope was kept alive in Israel during the dark times of decline, corruption, civil war, exile, and captivity that were to follow for many generations after David. Today this is our challenge: to keep the same hope alive in our own dark times.

Today's Scriptures highlight David and Mary as two milestones in the fulfilment of God's promise. They are both extremely typical of "the obedience of faith" mentioned by Paul in his letter to the Romans.

King David, having organised his people, was thinking of building a great temple for God. But God stops him. The house of David was a dynasty divinely guaranteed to produce not just a great temporal kingdom but an eternal one, as the angel said to Mary. If David on the one hand was the connecting hinge between Abraham, who first received the promise, and Christ, in Mary on the other hand, this promise finally found fulfilment. This was because Mary was the true temple of God, the Shekinah, the visible manifestation of divine presence. Whatever marked Israel's passage from promise to fulfilment, continues to mark today's world and our daily lives.

Jesus Christ, born of Mary, becomes the Immanuel, God with us. God's presence is no longer symbolically a presence through the ark dwelling in a tent, but becomes a real presence, now that the Word was made flesh. God's Word no longer remains a word, a promise. It becomes flesh, it becomes historical, concrete, real.

As Paul says, this mystery "kept secret for endless ages" is now revealed and must be brought to those who need to hear and see. It was kept secret because God is patient, and in His patience, can remain silent while we are in the dark. But He also knows the right moment, the fullness of time. He always respects our freedom and our seasons. His mystery remains unrevealed to those who do not seek. It is only revealed to those who can take it, like Mary. God knows the connecting hinges, and when our heart is ready to serve as sacred space where He can dwell. He is capable of reading our signs more than we His.

On the eve of another Christmas, it is always the same simple yet complex question that we need to ask ourselves and that provides guidance: 'Where is God in my life and how can I discern His presence and power?' The more I encounter Him, the better the chances to keep hope alive.

The obedience of faith is no easy task. It demands patience, it causes intervals of darkness, it makes us pass through the valley of tears. The difficulties may change from person to person, and from time to time. For the Word of God to continue to become flesh, we need to add new content and new meanings to the Gospel accounts. Otherwise the 'good news' is neither good nor news.

God's entering our history and our life stories transcends our difficulties and our logic. This is why God is always disturbing. Mary was deeply disturbed: "How can this come about, since I am a virgin?" This was Mary's objection and is ours as well. There is so much beyond me. Hope is kept alive because it is God, not I, who will make His promises come true.

His incarnation has signed once for all our world, making humanisation possible. Our societies are still heavily marked by signs of dehumanisation. That is why we need to be better at careful listening than eloquent speech. The more our heart is a listening heart, the more God's incarnation transpires as something present not past.