The Gospel for Monday of the fourth week of Advent is taken from Luke 1:46 to the 56th verse. Mary said, my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked upon his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed. The Almighty has done great things for me and and holy is his name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm and scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever. Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and then returned home. There is something almost shocking about the ordinariness of the coming of God into the world.

The Old Testament is filled with images of the Divine residing in a place and people in charge of doling out grace, acceptance. And now Mary is there to announce a new era, a new time when God Himself is going to come into the world. It is amazing this happened to a woman who had very little to do with the temple, very little to do with the organized religion, but was simply a woman who understood and who said yes. After your reflection, I will close with a prayer. Foreign. Mary is our model.

She is the human being who brought Christ into the world. Each of us are called to do something very much like that, to manifest the wisdom of the love, the forgiveness of Jesus to the world. Let us recognize her as our model, turn to her in our need, and we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.