The Looooong Advent

The Feast of the Annunciation (when the timing of Holy Week allows) is celebrated on March 25. This date is nine months before Christmas, showing that even though Jesus’s conception is a mystery that surpasses our understanding, his growth in Mary’s womb followed normal human patterns, just like the rest of his humanity.

I love pondering the fact that for a whole nine months, just like every other mother, Mary was pregnant with Jesus. She walked around with him hidden inside her, gradually growing more noticeable, needing her for everything, but still her God. Most of this time she was living her ordinary life. Mary spoke with her fellow townspeople, cooked, cleaned, gardened, worshipped, sewed, and did everything she normally did. The difference was that she brought Jesus, the Light of the World, with her everywhere. This is especially clear in another feast that we celebrate during this time: the Feast of the Visitation on May 31. Externally, she goes to support her elder cousin through Elizabeth’s pregnancy, but hiddenly, she brings Jesus into a situation where he showers grace on everyone present.

By our baptism we have been given the life of Jesus to nourish within us. We can live this out intentionally every day, like Mary did. When a mother is pregnant, she takes care to behave in such a way so that the life inside of her can flourish. This primarily looks like self-care, but it is not selfish. It is for the sake of the other. For each of us, we need to pay attention to what will help the life of Jesus in us flourish. It is important to protect it, even though that may mean making some changes in our lives. We know that alcohol harms babies, and so pregnant women generally give it up for their pregnancies; likewise, there are certain vitamins that can help babies be healthy, so pre-natal vitamins are generally recommended. In our spiritual lives, things work the same way. We must protect the life of Jesus within us from harm (avoiding sin, places/people/things that make it easy for us to sin) and help this life grow (frequent the sacraments, make time for prayer, read the bible, spend time with holy friends).

This inner communion with Jesus is a joy, and the stronger he grows within us, the more we realize that we are bringing him everywhere we go. Like during Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, Jesus’s grace extends around us to visibly and invisibly impact the people in our lives. Our presence as Christians - in the grocery store, at our work, in school, walking on the sidewalk, in our homes, at church, playing sports - brings Jesus into places where he wants to be present and active.

Though we only celebrate Advent for four weeks, if our year were somehow longer, it would be much more fitting to have a nine-month Advent, to fully capture the preparation and longing for God-her-son that Mary experienced. In our current looooong Advent of millennia, waiting for the fullness of time when Jesus promised to return, we can imitate Mary in protecting the Christ-life we have been given and living Jesus-filled lives as we wait.

Harriet Pedersen