One of the mind stretching insights we all have by now is how different life is for women here in the West compared to how life is for women of the Middle East? Of course we think our ways are superior, but what goes on the Middle East today can help us understand today’s Gospel at a deeper level. A lot of customs of the Middle East today were the very same customs of the Middle East at the time of the Gospel.
Do you remember the Gospel story of the woman at the well? We get a real glimpse into what life was like for women back then. They were the ones responsible for getting water to the house, drawn from a well and carried in a large jar on the head back to the house. The women were very well covered and went to the well in a large group of women early in the day, when all the men would be sober and not on the prowl.
The assumption in the Middle East in those days (and still today) was that if there were not strong measures taken to govern male - female conduct, any single woman meeting any man alone was presumed to be an illicit moment. The men in the family would suffer shame for not protecting their women; the woman would suffer shame for putting herself in a dangerous situation; and, honestly, since men were not to be trusted, the presumption of guilt on both parties part would be a foregone conclusion.
Now within that context let’s look at the Annunciation. An angel with a man’s name suddenly was within the enclosure that all maidens live in. The home was constructed in such a way as to provide the greatest security for vulnerable maidens: a walled enclosure and an inner room away from prying eyes.
Given this cultural context imagine the fear of Mary! She was in a potentially embarrassing situation. Anyone would imagine the worst. How could she explain this? Angel or not! No wonder the angel said, “Do not be afraid, Mary.”
And then came a totally inexplicable, unimaginable message: to be the virginal mother of the Son of God. She asks her question, “How can this be?” and gets an answer that says to her: God was going to play the traditional role of husband to her! God would empower her to become pregnant and God would protect her, the two duties of a Middle Eastern husband. Imagine Mary wondering, “And what about Joseph?”
Despite this event being an unbelievable event, imagine how else Mary’s faith was tested! How was she going to explain this to her parents and to Joseph? Yet she said, Let it be done according to your word.
My brothers and sisters, every age of the church, in fact, every age of a person’s journey through life, has its challenges. Always there is a temptation to lose faith. Always there is the temptation to give up: give up on God, or give up on a spouse, or give up on hope, or give up on the future, and on and on and on.
How shall we remain faithful? How shall we continue to trust in God’s goodness, especially when we see things that try our souls.
This is a time of year when many Catholics find their way home and come back to church. One of the great attractions of the practice of the faith is the very act of believing! Yet believing in God, in Christ and the Church, is not easy. In many ways, it would be easier to give up.
Yet down very deep in our souls we know that if we do not believe, nothing else makes sense.
Here are some practical suggestions on how to make our faith stronger:
- Pray for faith, because faith is a gift from God; so, let us ask Him: I believe O Lord, help my unbelief.
- Besides being a gift, faith is also a virtue. Think of a virtue as a muscle. A muscle has to be exercised or the muscle will atrophy. Unless faith is exercised, it too will atrophy. Exercising the muscle of faith looks like this: faithfully attending Sunday Mass, praying every day, going to confession, more than once in a Blue Moon, getting a marriage validated by the Church if you were married out of the church.
- And lastly: Take a leap of faith! Make a decision that I will believe all that the Catholic Church believes, teaches and professes to be true. There’s nothing like a leap of faith, like diving into a pool at the deep end. That’s where you will find the grace to say with Mary, “Let it be."
- Especially: "I believe, O Lord, help my unbelief."
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