Votive Mass for Life
December 14, 2009

"Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." These words of Elizabeth were spoken to Mary on the occasion of the visitation. They are also directed to us tonight as we listen to the Gospel. Let us receive them as words to guide the efforts of us who pray and work for the protection of all human life. "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment..." This is the faith that must animate and sustain our work and without which all of our efforts will prove fruitless. What does Mary's faith teach us?

It teaches us that faith opens the door to the accomplishment of what is impossible for human beings. The words of Elizabeth refer to the annunciation by Gabriel that Mary would give birth to a son while remaining a virgin. "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." Mary did not understand how this could be, and questioned the angel on this point, but she chose to trust in the unlimited power of God to accomplish the impossible. She believed and gave her fiat, and what was promised was fulfilled.

God chooses us as well to be instruments of his purpose, the accomplishment of which is humanly impossible. God's purpose is life. Jesus speaks of the divine purpose when he says, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10) The will of the Lord is that we be alive, fully alive in him and eternally alive in God. This is the purpose for which the Son of God was sent to us. The will of God is life, not death, and God's purpose is his promise. Blessed are we when we believe that there will be a fulfillment of that promise. For there to be a true culture of life in our country, there needs to be an awakening of conscience and a conversion of heart. This is beyond our ability; only God can bring about these things. Yet he calls us to speak and to act, and to trust that He will be at work in and through us to accomplish his will for life. On the basis of our faith that God can and will bring about that which he promises, we give our fiat and place ourselves at the service of life.

How else are we taught by Mary's faith? Well, we learn how a Christian responds to the evil and suffering around us. Mary's faith was, we must acknowledge, the pathway to suffering. Simeon had promised that a sword would pierce her heart, which indeed came to pass as she stood at the foot of the Cross of her Son. When our hearts are open to the wonder of God's love, which did not shy away from the Cross, they, too, are pierced with a sword of sorrow as we witness the death of the preborn, the threat of euthanasia, the oppression of the weak, and the suffering of the homeless. As Mary stood at the Cross she did not cry out in rage or lash out in anger towards those who killed her Son. She took the pain to herself, absorbed it and did not allow it to find a new outlet in her. Her faith accepted that somehow God was at work and would be victorious as he had promised by the angel. Mary teaches us that a disciple of Christ must never be the mouthpiece of anger or bitterness, no matter how deep our sorrow. Our witness must be truth spoken in love, a witness grounded in the certainty that God's grace is more powerful than sin.

Furthermore, Mary teaches us that faith, even in moments of difficulty, gives rise to joy, a joy that leads to service. The message of Advent is that God is very near to us, and he is near in love and power to save his people. The spontaneous response to this is joy. To the announcement of God's saving intervention in Christ Mary gave the first Christian response, and it was joy. This joy found expression in her prayer of praise that we call the Magnificat. Likewise, when we see how God is present to transform the lives of his children, when we are witnesses to the countless ways in which God is pouring out his love upon the world, an unshakeable joy wells up in our hearts. Some of us had the privilege of hearing Mother Agnes Mary Donovan of the Sisters for Life at Thursday evening's Nothing More Beautiful session. She and her sisters are obviously well aware of the great suffering caused by attacks on life today, and they share that pain. Yet she came as a witness to joy, because she has seen for herself God's many life-giving graces abounding in the people she meets. This joy energizes for service to life. Mary's joy led her to the pregnant Elizabeth, that she might help her kinswoman bring her child to birth. So, too, does our joy impel us to speak and work for the cause of life.

Ultimately, Mary teaches us that faith is the gateway to life. Her fiat, grounded in faith, opened the way for Life itself to take up his abode within her. The One through whom all life came into being stepped into history to affirm and redeem that life. The door through which Life entered was the faith of Mary. In this Mass for life, then, let us pray for a deepening of the gift of faith. In spite of any and all difficulties, let us learn from Mary always to trust that God's saving purpose will be fulfilled and that therefore the last word will be not death but life.

Richard W. Smith
Archbishop of Edmonton