LUKE 1:39-45 | BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMEN

“BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMEN”

LUKE 1:39-45

DECEMBER 13, 2015

PERHAPS YOU’VE SEEN THIS JOKE ON FACEBOOK OR ELSEWHERE ON THE INTERNET.

I’VE CLEANED IT UP FOR PRIME TIME HEARING BY CHANGING JUST ONE WORD.

“A JEW, A CHRISTIAN, A MUSLIM, AND A PAGAN WALK INTO A COFFEE SHOP; THEY HAVE COFFEE TOGETHER, A CONVERSATION, AND BECOME FRIENDS…

IT’S NOT A JOKE; IT’S WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU’RE NOT A JERK.”

IN A WORLD AT WAR WITH EACH OTHER, WHERE EVEN OUR OWN CITIZENS ARE AT TIMES, AT WAR WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS AND CO-WORKERS; WHERE TERRORISM THREATENS TO DESTROY OUR WAY OF LIFE…

WHY, IN GOD’S NAME, ARE PEOPLE OF FAITH NOT LEADING THE WAY IN MAKING FOR PEACE?

IT’S A FAIR QUESTION, AND I’M GLAD YOU ASKED. LET ME TELL YOU WHY.

BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE THOSE WHO HATE, AND KILL, AND DESTROY LIKE THOSE IN ISIS AND AL QAEDA WHO HAVE SO TWISTED AND PERVERTED THEIR BELIEFS SO THAT IT IS NO LONGER EVEN IDENTIFIABLE AS ISLAM.

BECAUSE OF JEWS BULLDOZING ENTIRE PALESTINIAN NEIGHBORHOODS TO THE GROUND; AND BECAUSE OF PALESTINIANS IN HEZBOLLAH FIRING MISSILES INTO ISRAEL.

AND BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE JERRY FALWELL JR. THE SON OF THE LATE JERRY FALWELL, AND PRESIDENT OF LIBERTY UNIVERSITY.

HERE’S WHAT HE SAID IN URGING THE STUDENT BODY OF LIBERTY UNIVERSITY, A CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY, TO ARM THEMSELVES IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTINGS:

“I’VE ALWAYS THOUGHT IF MORE GOOD PEOPLE HAD CONCEALED-WEAPON PERMITS WE COULD END THOSE MUSLIMS BEFORE THEY WALK IN AND KILL.”

I’M SORRY… BUT I JUST CAN’T IMAGINE THOSE WORDS ON JESUS’ LIPS.

THIS IS WHY, AT LEAST SOME PEOPLE OF FAITH, ARE NOT LEADING THE WAY IN MAKING FOR PEACE.

I SAW A PICTURE OF A CHURCH SIGN, LIKE THE ONE WE HAVE OUT FRONT, ONLINE THIS WEEK. IT READ:

IF YOU HATE ANYONE

BECAUSE OF YOUR FAITH,

YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG

LET ME READ YOU TWO PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE:

“O ZACHARIAH, WE GIVE YOU GOOD NEWS OF A SON BY NAME OF JOHN.”

ZACHARIAH ANSWERED, “HOW CAN I HAVE A SON, O LORD, WHEN MY WIFE IS BARREN AND I AM OLD AND DECREPIT?”

THE ANGEL ANSWERED: “THUS IT WILL BE. YOUR LORD SAID: ‘THIS IS EASY FOR ME, FOR WHEN I BROUGHT YOU INTO BEING YOU WERE NOTHING.’”

AND THIS PASSAGE:

“COMMEMORATE MARY IN THE BOOK. WHEN SHE WITHDREW FROM HER FAMILY TO A PLACE IN THE EAST, AND TOOK COVER FROM THEM, WE SENT A SPIRIT OF OURS TO HER WHO APPEARED BEFORE HER IN THE CONCRETE FORM OF A MAN.

“I SEEK REFUGE IN THE MERCIFUL FROM YOU, IF YOU FEAR HIM,” SHE SAID.

HE REPLIED, “I AM ONLY A MESSENGER FROM YOUR LORD SENT TO BESTOW A GOOD SON ON YOU.”

“HOW CAN I HAVE A SON?” SHE SAID “WHEN NO MAN HAS TOUCHED ME, NOR AM I SINFUL?”

HE SAID: ‘THUS IT WILL BE. YOUR LORD SAID: ‘IT IS EASY FOR ME,’ AND THAT: ‘WE SHALL MAKE HIM A SIGN FOR MEN AND A BLESSING FOR US. THIS IS A THING ALREADY DECREED.”

NOW IF YOU DON’T EXACTLY REMEMBER EVER HEARING THOSE PASSAGES ABOUT ZACHARIAH, THE FATHER OF JOHN THE BAPTIST, AND ABOUT MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS, IT’S PROBABLY BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT FROM OUR SCRIPTURES.

THEY ARE FROM THE QURAN; AND MORE SPECIFICALLY, FROM THE SURA OR CHAPTER ENTITLED MARYAM (MARY) THE ONLY SECTION OF THE QURAN NAMED FOR A WOMAN; NAMED FOR MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS.

YES, THE STORY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST’S BIRTH; THE STORY OF JESUS’ BIRTH ARE BOTH IN THE QURAN; AND MUSLIMS AS WELL AS CHRISTIANS CONSIDER MARY TO BE HOLY ABOVE ALL WOMEN.

MARY’S NAME APPEARS MORE OFTEN IN THE QURAN THAN IT DOES IN OUR BIBLE. SHE SPEAKS MORE TIMES IN THE QURAN THAN IN OUR BIBLE.

“HAIL MARY, FULL OF GRACE, THE LORD IS WITH THEE.

BLESSED ART THOU AMONGST WOMEN,

AND BLESSED IS THE FRUIT OF THY WOMB, JESUS.”

“HAIL MARY, FULL OF GRACE, THE LORD IS WITH THEE…” ARE THE WORDS OF THE ANGEL GABRIEL WE READ LAST WEEK WHEN WE LOOKED AT THE ANNUNCIATION OF JESUS’ BIRTH;

AND THE WORDS “BLESSED ART THOU AMONGST WOMEN…’ ARE THE WORDS OF MARY’S COUSIN ELIZABETH, THE MOTHER OF JOHN THE BAPTIST, WE READ A MOMENT AGO.

TWO WOMEN – TWO SONS – GOD’S WAY OF CHANGING THE WORLD.

MANY MONTHS AGO NOW, I CAN’T TELL YOU HOW PROUD I WAS OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY FOR THEIR DECISION TO ADMIT WOMEN TO THE ELITE ARMY RANGERS PROGRAM…

AND HOW PROUD I WAS, SEVERAL MONTHS LATER, THAT TWO OF THOSE WOMEN GRADUATED TO BECOME ARMY RANGERS.

I HAVE LONG BEEN A SUPPORTER OF AND ADVOCATE FOR THE EQUALITY OF THE SEXES, RACES, GENDERS, ETC.

SO IT WAS STRANGE THIS PAST WEEK WHEN I FELT GREAT PANGS OF SADNESS…

FIRST, THAT ONE OF THE TERRORISTS, ONE OF THE MURDERERS IN SAN BERNARDINO, WAS A WOMAN.

OH, WE’VE SEEN THIS IN OTHER PLACES, OF COURSE, FEMALE SUICIDE BOMBERS, ETC. BUT RARELY, IF EVER, ON OUR OWN SOIL.

SECONDLY, I FELT A PANG OF SADNESS, IN A DIFFERENT WAY, WHEN THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ANNOUNCED THAT THE U. S. MILITARY WAS REMOVING ALL COMBAT RESTRICTIONS FOR WOMEN, ACROSS THE BOARD – IN ALL BRANCHES OF THE SERVICE – IN ALL COMBAT ROLES.

THIS MEANS THAT BRAVE WOMEN AND MEN MAY NOW FILL ALL COMBAT ROLES, TOGETHER, SIDE BY SIDE.

MY SADNESS, I SUPPOSE, IS THAT WHILE MY HEAD SHOUTS EQUALITY, MY HEART STILL HOLDS A PLACE FOR WOMEN AS THE “FAIRER SEX.”

MY HEAD, NO DOUBT WILL OVERCOME MY HEART’S OBJECTIONS, AS IT USUALLY DOES, SO PERHAPS WHAT IS REALLY LOST IS MY SENSE OF INNOCENCE.

BUT I STILL LIKE THINKING OF WOMEN AS THE FAIRER, GENTLER SEX, EVEN WHILE ADVOCATING FOR EQUALITY AT EVERY LEVEL.

I STILL LIKE THINKING OF WOMEN – MOTHERS, SISTERS, WIVES, DAUGHTERS, CO-WORKERS AND COLLEAGUES, AS THE NURTURERS, THE LOVERS, THE CAREGIVERS, THE ONES WHO OFTEN MAKE FOR PEACE IN FAMILIES, IN COMMUNITIES, AND IN THE WORLD, WHEN NO ONE ELSE CAN.

“BLESSED ART THOU AMONGST WOMEN…” IT IS TRUE FOR US ALL; WE ARE INDEED BLESSED BY THE WOMEN IN WHOSE MIDST WE LIVE AND WORK.

THESE TWO GREAT WOMEN IN OUR STORY FOR THIS MORNING; WHO BROUGHT THESE TWO GREAT MEN INTO THE WORLD; TO CHANGE THE WORLD.

MANY OF US WILL REMEMBER HOW THE APOSTLE PAUL WRITING TO TIMOTHY, IN THE SECOND OF THE LETTERS BEARING HIS NAME, COMMENDS TIMOTHY FOR HIS “SINCERE FAITH” WHICH:

“LIVED FIRST IN YOUR GRANDMOTHER LOIS AND YOUR MOTHER EUNICE AND NOW, I AM SURE, LIVES IN YOU.”

HOW MANY OF US WERE FIRST BROUGHT TO FAITH BY THE WOMEN IN OUR LIVES?

HOW MANY OF US HAVE RETURNED TO OUR FAITH, AFTER YEARS AWAY, BECAUSE OF THE WOMEN, OUR WIVES AND OUR DAUGHTERS?

HOW MANY OF US HAVE BEEN KEPT IN THE FAITH, BECAUSE OF THE WOMEN WHO ARE A PART OF OUR LIVES?

OUR GRANDMOTHERS, MOTHERS, WIVES, PARTNERS, SISTERS, DAUGHTERS, TEACHERS, COLLEAGUES, AND CO-WORKERS, SUSTAINING US IN OUR FAITH.

IN THE VIDEO SERIES WE ARE CURRENTLY USING FOR OUR LESSONS IN OUR ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS ON THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JESUS, THERE WAS A SEGMENT LAST WEEK ON THE JEWISH SABBATH, OR SHABBAT.

IT IS THE WOMAN OF THE HOUSE’S RESPONSIBILITY TO LIGHT THE FIRST CANDLE, BRINGING LIGHT INTO THE HOME FOR THE OBSERVANCE OF SHABBAT.

AS THEY WERE SHOWING THIS PARTICULAR SCENE THE NARRATOR’S VOICE-OVER REMINDED US THAT JUST AS IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WOMAN OF THE HOUSE TO BRING THE LIGHT INTO THE HOME…

IT WAS ALSO A WOMAN WHO BROUGHT THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, JESUS CHRIST, INTO THE WORLD.

AND WHILE WE KNOW, AS CHRISTIANS, THAT IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY, ALL OF OUR RESPONSIBILITIES, TO CARRY THE LIGHT OF CHRIST INTO THE WORLD;

SOMETHING WE SYMBOLIZE EVERY WEEK HERE AT PEACE COVENANT WITH THE COMING OF THE LIGHT OF CHRIST INTO OUR SANCTUARY AS THE ACOLYTES LIGHT THE CANDLES AT THE BEGINNING OF OUR SERVICE…

AND THE LIGHT OF CHRIST LEADING US OUT INTO THE WORLD AS THE ACOLYTES TAKE THE LIGHT OF CHRIST BACK OUT OF THE SANCTUARY AT THE END OF THE SERVICE…

WHILE IT IS ALL OF OUR RESPONSIBILITIES TO LET OUR LIGHTS SO SHINE THAT OTHERS MAY KNOW GOD, AND GIVE THANKS TO GOD;

I AM MAKING A SPECIAL APPEAL TO ALL OF THE WOMEN WHO ARE HERE THIS MORNING TO LEAD THE WAY.

SHOW US THE WAY – AS MARY SHOWS US THE WAY; AS ELIZABETH DID; AS LOIS AND EUNICE, AND ALL THE OTHER WOMEN OF OUR SCRIPTURES, AND AS WOMEN OF FAITH IN OUR OWN LIVES HAVE SHOWN US THE WAY.

FOR “BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMEN…” AND MEN, AND BLESSED ARE THE FRUIT OF YOUR WOMBS – OUR CHILDREN – AND THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD.

IN THE ARTICLE IN THIS MONTH’S NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ON MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS, THAT I HAVE BEEN MENTIONING IN THESE SERMONS, THERE IS THE STORY OF LOURDES, FRANCE, ONE OF THE PLACES BELIEVERS COME TO BE HEALED BY WHAT THEY BELIEVE TO BE THE PRESENCE OF MOTHER MARY.

SHORTLY AFTER WORLD WAR II FRENCH AND GERMAN SOLDIERS MET TOGETHER AT LOURDES, FRANCE TO RECONCILE AND HEAL THE WOUNDS OF WAR; NOW EVERY SPRING VETERANS GROUPS ARE AMONG THE HORDES OF PILGRIMS.

ON MAY 14, 2015 THE AUTHOR OF THE ARTICLE ACCOMPANIED 184 WOUNDED WARRIORS – U. S. COMBAT VETERANS WHO HAD SERVED IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN – AND THEIR FAMILIES – SPONSORED BY THE ARCHDIOCESE FOR THE MILITARY SERVICES AND THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS.

“THEY HAD COME,” THE AUTHOR WRITES, “FOR THE ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE OF MILITARIES (FROM 35 NATIONS THAT YEAR) TO CELEBRATE PEACE.

FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES, ALL THESE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN AND THOSE WHO SUPPORT THEM MUST CONTEND WITH THE DEBILITATING INJURIES SUFFERED SOMETIMES DURING MULTIPLE DEPLOYMENTS.”

THE AUTHOR GOES ON TO TELL, IN SOME DETAIL, OF ONE REMARKABLE WOMAN, ARMY COLONEL (RET.) DOROTHY A. PERKINS, 60, AN AFFABLE TRIATHLETE AND MOTHER OF TWO WHO WAS COMMANDING A BATTALION OF 480 SOLDIERS AT FT. HOOD, TX, ON 911.

BECAUSE HER BATTALION HAD CRUCIAL COUNTERINTELLIGENCE AND INTERROGATION EXPERIENCE, SHE OVERSAW THE DEPLOYMENT OF SOLDIERS TO FIVE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, AND SENT A GROUP TO GUANTANAMO BAY.

SHE HERSELF DID TWO TOURS OF DUTY IN IRAQ, AND SPENT MORE THAN A DECADE IN ARMY SPECIAL OPS.

PERKINS GREW UP A POOR WHITE GIRL IN A MOSTLY BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD IN TACOMA, WASHINGTON, WITH NOMINAL SUPPORT FROM HER MOTHER AND ALCOHOLIC STEPFATHER.

AT AGE TEN, SHE WAS SENT TO PICK BERRIES IN THE FIELDS.

SHE LEARNED GERMAN IN A GAP YEAR BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE WHEN SHE LIVED AS AN “INDENTURED SERVANT” CLEANING ROOMS IN A FAMILY-OWNED HOTEL IN THE BAVARIAN ALPS.

HER ONLY RECREATION WAS TO HIKE THE MOUNTAIN TRAILS, WHERE SHE ENCOUNTERED LITTLE SHRINES TO MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS.

“MY FAITH HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE CORE OF WHO I AM,” PERKINS SAYS. “IT IS A CHOICE I MADE EARLY ON.”

“WITHOUT FAMILY TO RELY ON,” PERKINS SAYS, “THE VIRGIN MARY BECAME MY ANCHOR. SHE LOVES YOU AS MUCH AS YOU WANT. THROUGH HER TO HIM, SHE FOCUSED ME ON MAKING CLOSER RELATIONS WITH JESUS.”

AN ARMY COLONEL (RET.); A VETERAN OF THE IRAQ WAR; A BELIEVER IN JESUS CHRIST, INDEBTED TO MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS FOR LEADING HER TO HIM;

A LEADER OF GROUPS OF WOUNDED WARRIORS COMING TO LOURDES, FRANCE, TO A PLACE OF PEACE AND HEALING; A WOMAN, A WIFE, A MOTHER.

HAVING TOLD THE STORY OF COLONEL DOROTHY PERKINS, THE AUTHOR OF THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ARTICLE CLOSES HER PIECE WITH THIS:

“DURING THE CLOSING CEREMONIES AT A GIANT MASS IN THE BASILICA, ONE OF THE EUROPEAN BISHOPS, PREACHING IN FRENCH, SAID, “WORLD WAR III IS ALREADY UNDER WAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA.”

HE PRAISED THE MILITARY THERE FOR FOCUSING “ON PEACE, JUSTICE, AND HUMAN RIGHTS.

“MAY THIS EXPERIENCE MAKE YOU WITNESSES FOR HOPE,” HE PREACHED.

THEN THESE FINAL WORDS FROM THE AUTHOR:

“I THOUGHT OF THE INDELIBLE SCENE OF THE CANDLELIGHT PROCESSION THE NIGHT BEFORE – THOUSAND OF PILGRIMS, FROM PLACES RANGING FROM ARGENTINA TO ZAMBIA, SILENTLY LIFTING THEIR CANDLES IN PRAYER.

IT ENDED WITH DOZENS OF VETERANS IN WHEELCHAIRS LINING UP IN FRONT, NEXT TO THE GROTTO OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES, FOR SONGS AND PRAYERS.

SO MANY SOULS YEARNING TO BE WITNESSES FOR HOPE;

SO MANY SOULS IMBUED WITH THE BELIEF THAT THE VIRGIN MARY WAS LIGHTING THEIR WAY.”

IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, JESUS SAYS:

“I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. WHOEVER FOLLOWS ME WILL NEVER WALK IN DARKNESS BUT WILL HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE.”

BUT JESUS ALSO SAYS IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW:

“YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE BEFORE OTHERS, SO THAT THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS AND GIVE GLORY TO YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.”

THIS MORNING – LET’S THINK ABOUT WHAT THAT REALLY MEANS FOR US WHEN THE ACOLYTES TAKE THE LIGHT OF CHRIST OUT OF OUR SANCTUARY, BACK INTO THE WORLD, AND WITH IT – US!