Go Ahead: Ask!

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Ahaz, ask, Gabriel, God, Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus, Lord, Mary, sign from God, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

It’s my joy to be back to writing after nearly a week of “technical difficulties.”

In this morning’s Scripture readings there is a connection between Ahaz in the Hebrew Scriptures and Mary in Luke’s gospel, as both are confronted with messages from God. In the first, God tells Ahaz to ask for a sign from God. Ahaz refuses saying, “I will not ask. I will not tempt the Lord!” The next part of the conversation puts one in mind of a child saying, “Ask me what I have behind my back” or “Ask me what I did today.” Even if you refuse to ask, the child will tell you, and that’s exactly what happened with Ahaz. God said, “I’m going to tell you anyway!” and the message is a foreshadowing of the birth of Jesus. The gospel recounts the familiar conversation between Mary and the angel Gabriel, wherein Gabriel tells Mary (unbidden) that she is to be the mother of God’s Son. Unlike Ahaz, she does not refuse but she does question how it can happen since she has not had relations with a man. Gabriel’s explanation is certainly incredible but it ends with an assurance of what Mary must have already believed, because it caused her to assent to what was being asked of her. The angel said: “Nothing is impossible for God.”

Today is a good day to examine our willingness to assent to what is asked of us but also a day to ask for what we think we need from God. We must, however, be mindful in our asking of the fact that God knows what is good for us and what will keep us on our path toward God – even if our vision is cloudy in the asking. Willingness to surrender to God always trumps our personal will when dealing with God. Knowing that God is for us and will keep us close even in the most unthinkable events of our lives will guide us toward the maturity of asking the right questions.

“Wake Up Spirituality”

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Anthony DeMello, Christmas, Gospel of Matthew, Hebrew Bible, Isaiah, Jesus, Paul, spirituality, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

A wonderful Jesuit spiritual writer, Anthony DeMello, coined a phrase in the 1980’s that has endured to the present time. He called it “wake up spirituality.” Today’s readings could be used as a “proof text” for what DeMello was saying. Paul says to the Romans, “You know the time; it is now the hour for you to wake from sleep, [to] cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is short and not so sweet in his wording. He simply says: “STAY AWAKE!” We know that neither of these readings is suggesting that we “pull an all-nighter” but it was the reading from the Hebrew Scriptures that gave me the deepest insight into the power of today’s message. Although Paul intimates that being awake is more than just “being there” and recognizing the choice of good rather than evil, Isaiah’s vision includes a time when “they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” That’s pretty specific and full of transformative images. No going back from this time and place. No raising sword or spear against another because there are none left. They’ve been turned to more peaceful uses. And no training for war ever again. In this peaceable kingdom we will only find creatures of light, living as we were always meant to live, treating one another with unconditional love. What better way to spend this month in anticipation of Christmas? Waking up, staying awake, getting reading for the birth of love incarnate.