With Christmas just a few days away, how long is your “To Do” list? Mine is entirely too long. I sat down last night and listed all the things that I expect to do before Christmas: baking, visits, cleaning, shopping, decorating, parish responsibilities, calls. Then I listed time available. It didn’t match. As I faced the need to drop or postpone some projects, I remembered God’s economy. God has an economy which is so much better than mine. It is better than any project planning, economic, or social system we humans create. God’s economy is called “the common good.” Mary and Elizabeth lived it in today’s Gospel.
As the story of God-with-us continues…
Tuesday’s readings told us how Elizabeth came to “be with child.” In spite of her happiness, there surely were some stresses: her husband couldn’t speak, she was “advanced in years,” beyond normal child-bearing age. At a time in history when one in five women died in childbirth and normal life expectancy was not much over 30 years, her age must have given her some concerns.
Wednesday’s Gospel told us the story of the Annunciation. In Elizabeth’s sixth month, the angel Gabriel prepared Mary to be the Mother of God by letting her know she would conceive a child when she was “overshadowed by the Most High.” Mary said “yes,” and then she, too, was “with child.”
God’s Economy at the Visitation
Let’s look at how God’s economy worked. Mary and Elizabeth were cousins. Mary would have known about Elizabeth’s inability to have children. Today’s Gospel begins with the next verse after “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done to me according to your word.” Like Zechariah, Mary had also asked, “How can these things be?” Though she lacked Zechariah’s doubt, still…if an angel appeared to you and told you things that were very hard to believe, would you not at least wonder if the angel and message were real and were truly from God? I would. I would want something to verify my experience was of God.
Gabriel gave Mary a way to verify his message: she could go visit Elizabeth. And so she did. It gave her a safe place to be while most likely her parents and Joseph, her husband-to-be, worked out how to handle her future. It gave Elizabeth someone to be with her and support her through her final months of pregnancy. Zechariah may not have been able to speak, but he could hear. Mary’s presence must have been a comfort for him, too. And it gave John the Baptist, already filled with the Holy Spirit and his mission in life, the opportunity to leap with joy in the womb. This “Visitation” was corroboration for all concerned. It was Fruits of the Spirit for all concerned: Love, peace, joy, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. It was a sacred time to work out practicalities for all concerned.
God’s economy. The common good.
The Common Good
One way to think of God’s economy is through the Catholic social teaching of “the common good.” The Common Good is discussed in sections 1905-1912 of the Catholic catechism. Generally, it is defined as “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.” (1906)
The catechism and Church Social Teaching usually speak of the Common Good in terms of social conditions for groups in society and individuals within those groups. It notes that respect for each individual, stability within the group, and general conditions of peace are required as foundations for the Common Good.
Four days before Christmas you may not have time or inclination to think of such matters.
You have a To Do list which calls you.
God’s Economy and Your To Do List
So let’s talk about God’s economy and the Common Good in your house, your family, your corner of the world. And in mine. Of the tasks you have set for yourself these next few days:
- Of the items on your list, which ones help people work together?
- Which ones foster Fruits of the Spirit in your house: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control?
- Beyond your house, are there items which foster Fruits of the Spirit in those who may be at the edges of community—the carebound, the over-worked, the young, the old, the ones without tasks to do, the harried (including you)?
- Are there some things that are “must do’s” because of your pride or perfectionism?
- Are there items which would better serve Jesus if you did them next week–or even some time in January?
- Which tasks demonstrate “God-with-us,” make Jesus present in the here and now?
At the heart of it all: preparing yourself, your family, and others to encounter Christ
There is a choice for the first readings. Whether you are reading from the Song of Songs or Zephaniah, the message is the same: prepare to encounter the great love of God for you.
“O my dove in the clefts of the rock,
in the secret recesses of the cliff,
Let me see you,
let me hear your voice,
For your voice is sweet,
and you are lovely.” (Song of Songs)
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,
you have no further misfortune to fear.
On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!
The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a mighty savior;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
He will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals. (Zephaniah)
Choices
Maybe everything on your To Do list fits with God’s economy. Maybe, as you reflect, next to nothing fits. Probably, your list is like mine—a mixture of God’s economy and personal desire for accomplishment.
Probably, now is a good time to pick, prune, and postpone. Mary went to help her cousin. Her cousin and family welcomed and helped her. God’s economy. The common good.
In four days we celebrate that God came to be with us—as a child in Bethlehem, as a man who walked the hills of Galilee, as God-man who died for our sins and rose from the dead. He is with us still in the Eucharist and all the sacraments, in his Church and its teaching. He is with us still in you and me. In God’s economy we each have a place—like Zechariah, Elizabeth, John the Baptist, and Mary.
Prayer:
Lord, be God-with-us, Emmanuel, in me today. Prune away the branches in me that focus on what I think needs to be done, so that the branches which are of You, of Your Vine, can grow, blossom, and bear fruit—Fruits of the Spirit. Lord, help me to see that those Fruits of the Spirit are the wealth in Your economy. Help me work for them. Lead me, guide me, Lord.
