Advent Week 2 - Faith
As we begin our second week of Advent, we again light our white Christ candle, our first purple Hope/Prophecy candle and now our second purple candle, that of Faith/Bethlehem. There are several insights as to why these two are grouped together. I shall share with you the “why.” Mary is given the revelation by the archangel Gabriel (Luke 1:26-38) as to becoming the mother of the Christ. In her acceptance of this, her life’s journey is not revealed beforehand. She must walk and live her life as each day, each hour, each moment presents itself. Her life is to be one of faith in the revelation first given.
Mary’s Faith journey begins as a little girl dreaming of one day becoming a mother. It is in her imagination as she sees herself holding a baby. We see that in society all over the world and in every culture. She sees this reality first in her surroundings with family, relatives, neighbors, etc. She begins to aspire herself becoming a mother in marriage but does not yet understand nor comprehend of what this entails. Her mind is yet innocent of this knowledge. As she develops and matures in body and mind, being a good Jewish girl, she is enlightened also by the revelation of God’s love and His Word by her parents. Now her wishful thinking is developed into Hope. Hope, as in wishful thinking is still in the imagination of the mind BUT has substance in God’s Word and His promises. It now has a foundation and this foundation must be made firm and stable as being built upon rock. As cement is cured by weather conditions and time, so it is with Faith.
Wishful thinking becomes Hope and now confidence and assurance will develop into the third stage as Belief. Through the experiences of her life and the observation of other individual lives, Mary’s faith, with education in the knowledge of God’s Word, develops into Belief. Yet our Faith journey must still further develop into Knowing then to Absolute!
We see towards the end of her third trimester of pregnancy, Joseph and Mary journeying to Bethlehem to comply with the census decreed by Caesar Augustus (Octavian). Every Jewish girl was aware of the flight of Jacob and his family from his mother’s brother Laban. It was on the road to Bethlehem that Rachel (the beloved one of Jacob) was in child birth. As she lay dying from trauma of her situation, the midwife pronounces that it is a boy. She names him “Benoni” (meaning son of my sorrow). Jacob, who has the right to name him, renames him “Benjamin” (son of my right hand). Jesus was known to be a man of “sorrows” as well as positioned at the “right hand” of the Father.
In brief, Mary was willing to give her life for the life of the child within her womb. The road to Bethlehem is a journey of Faith and at this stage, one of Belief. “No greater love is that of someone laying down their life for someone else.” The greatest act of selfLESSness. Mary’s Faith journey will continue to develop in her life with the Passion of Jesus into acceptance of God’s will through “knowing” until it becomes “absolute.” Where are we in our Faith journey?
Despair and Hope look at the same circumstances within the same situation. One tends towards Despair (sin against Hope) and the other towards Hope. Doubt (sin against Faith) develops, if unchecked, into depression! Are you feeding your soul on the essentials and nourishment of God’s love for you or rather allowing anxiety, worry and negativity to discourage and rob you of joy and peace. The road to Bethlehem is necessary in God’s Providence for the salvation of humanity. So it was with Mary and Joseph in their FAITH journey and so it is with you and I. Life is an adventure, live it to its fullest.