“I am the handmaid of the Lord.
Let it be done to me according to your word.”
When I was 14 years old, back in Ireland,
myself and three of my friends
went on a hitchhiking trip across Ireland.
It was in the middle of the summer and
we camped out using our tents and a backpack.
I cannot imagine allowing my 14-year-old son, if I had one,
to do that but my mother was gracious enough to allow it.
It was an epic trip across Ireland.
Even though it was in the middle of summer,
one night it started to rain.
Thankfully, our tents held up but the rain continued
for another day and another day.
Then it became torrential rain.
We had pitched our tents on the River Shannon in Athlone.
It is right in the center of the country.
In the middle of the second night, the Shannon rover broke its banks.
Up until then we were wet and it was a somewhat unpleasant trip
but when the River broke its banks,
our tents came apart and we were lucky to survive.
We grabbed all our stuff and
we were able to pull ourselves to higher ground.
We were absolutely drenched and freezing cold.
We bundled up everything but we were four 14 or 15 year old boys
all wet, raggedy, like wet little dogs.
My only answer to my friends was let’s go to the Franciscan Friary.
I was quite sure that they were going to let us in.
My friends said, “Well, it’s 4 o’clock in the morning.
Nobody is going to let us in.”
I said, “Let’s knock on the door of the Franciscan Friary.”
We grabbed all our stuff and trudged our way through the rain.
We knocked on the Franciscan Friary right
in the center of town a mile away.
And sure enough, the Franciscan Friars came down
and welcomed us in, turned on the heat in the parish hall,
gave us warm clothes, blankets and even gave us some warm soup.
They allowed us to stay an extra day
so we could dry off all our clothes and off we went.
I am not sure what we would have done if they had said no.
I mean it wasn’t like we had a lot of options.
But the Friar woke up and said yes.
We needed their help and they were willing to do it.
That is some 40 years ago and I can remember every minute.
I can almost feel the rain right now just telling the story
because it is that vivid in my memory.
I remember the little Friar who was so gentle and so friendly
even to this moment.
His yes made all the difference.
I do not know if you have ever been in a place of desperation;
a place of desperate need and you had no options;
and you asked someone for help; and they gave it to you.
I am not sure if you had a back-up plan
but what they did in that moment was change your life.
I am sure you could think of moments like that in your own life
that were really transfixing for the rest of your life;
a marker that has held throughout your life.
The kindness of a person when you were in need.
In today’s reading, Mary said yes to the Lord.
I have often wondered if God had a back-up plan.
What if Mary had said, “No. No. No. That won’t work for me at all.”
We think that she did not have a choice but she did;
the way we tell the story it almost sounds like
she didn’t have a choice.
She did have a choice.
She could have said no but she said yes.
And look at what unfolded because of Mary’s yes.
The whole of humanity has had a marker
forever from the House of David;
that we have become one people in and through Jesus Christ;
that we have understood that we are God’s people.
All of us. Because of that one little teenage girl,
who said yes to the Lord.
The Lord comes to us every day and asks us to do things.
I often wonder if he has back-up plans for us?
Like if we say no, which we say quite often,
he seems to find a way to get what he needs done to happen.
But he relies on us.
He is asking for our help
because the today the hands and feet of Christ are you and me.
It is our yes to today;
our yes to helping others will make the difference.
It will be a marker in other people’s lives for the rest of their lives.
But it requires a yes from us;
to ponder in our own heart
but then to remember at the end of the day,
God needs you and me to be his hands and feet.
If we can say yes to kindness and gentleness
instead of being bitter and harsh;
if we can say yes to forgiveness and no to unforgiveness and revenge;
if we can say yes to unity and no to feuding, to belittling our enemies;
if we can say yes to God then we can say no
to everything that divides us as a people.
In the first reading today, David thought that
by building a beautiful house for the Lord,
that somehow that would go well for him.
And the Lord corrects the Prophet Nathan and says no,
do not let him do that.
I am in the people.
And is it great to have a house?
Yes. But the house is my people.
The people of God. You and I are those people.
You and I are the ones who will say yes to the Lord
in everything we say and do.
Mary gave us in today’s reading
a preeminent example of true discipleship;
that we say yes to the Lord
to that which we do not fully understand,
knowing that his plans, his plans will be magnificent.
Today as we sort of wind up our last few days of preparation for Christmas,
may we remember that our yes to God
is so he does not have to have a back-up plan;
that you and I will say yes to all the little things
of gentleness, kindness, patience, forgiveness and love.
That is what the message of Christmas is, our yes to the Lord.
