What does it mean for us to journey toward Christmas in the light of Mary? It means tuning in with Mary and with the Word, so that we can be in tune with Bethlehem and the nativity scene; trying to reread our story as Mary did in the light of the Word, the story of the Word within our own story and that of the Church.
Mary is waiting, because on Christmas Eve we are usually led to think about awaiting childbirth. Mary finds herself in an absurd situation: she knows that the Son of God, Emmanuel, is about to be born; she already knows his name and what his mission will be, and she waits in those circumstances... she hopes, that is, she awaits peace and quiet, but instead, once the child is born, they are immediately forced to flee to Egypt. Then there is the anguished waiting of a mother during Jesus' public life, because she experiences both the joy, beauty, welcome, and miracles and the fact that her son is slandered, persecuted, and hunted down. Then there is this defeated waiting, with the manifestation of her son's defeat beneath the cross; a sword will pierce her soul. Think of all the attention Mary devoted to the Messiah, and there it seems that everything ends up buried beneath the hatred of the people around her, while she continues to see nothing but an attitude of love in her son. And then there is this waiting when the first reports begin to circulate that Jesus has appeared and is no longer in the tomb.
Mary teaches us wonder at the risen body of Christ present in the Eucharist, which for us is the continuation of the Incarnation; that is, Mary helps us grasp the culmination of the Incarnation.
If we can tune in with Mary to this wonder, think with Mary about our communions and adoration, and being part of a Sunday assembly, we will see every nativity scene depicting what happened in Bethlehem through a special magnifying lens, viewing it with Mary's faith and heart - a heart made of the Word and filled with the Spirit, a heart capable of expressing all the beauty of one who knows how to wait, of the desire of one who wants to encounter the Lord, all the way to the wonder of what is the culmination of the Incarnation: the Eucharist, which is given to each of us whenever we have the opportunity - an occasion in which each person becomes one body with Jesus and with all those who receive him.
May this Christmas truly be about welcoming the Incarnate Word with Mary's heart.
You can read the complete meditation, together with those on the other figures of the nativity scene, and prepare with them for Holy Christmas in the book: Novena to Christmas.
