Michaelangelo
Does God actually speak to us—individually, personally?
Does he send angels to bring us his messages?
The Scriptures give many accounts of those Divine
communications.
We have two of them today.
We hear that the Lord spoke to Nathan, with
a message for David.
Assuring him that God would raise a new king from
David's heirs.
God saying, I will be a father to him, and he
shall be a son to me.
And then in our Gospel we hear the story of the Annunciation.
The coming fulfillment of that assurance made to
David.
The angel Gabriel was sent from God … to
Mary.
To tell her that God has chosen her to give birth
to a holy child,
That promised Son of God.
Mary had a real conversation with Gabriel.
And in the end, she accepted God's call, saying—
May it be done to me according to your
word.
In other Scripture passages angels bring messages
from God
To Joseph in his dreams.
And God and his angels also talk with Abraham and
Moses
And many other Bible characters.
But how about us ordinary non-biblical folks.
Does God talk to us too?
When we're awake?
When we're asleep? Through his
messengers?
Yes, he does.
We've all had—or will have— those experiences.
That inner voice speaking to us—guiding us.
We may have to question whose voice that really
is.
It could sometimes just be our own voice.
It takes practice in listening.
But we can develop our ear for recognizing God's
voice.
We can also test the message.
Is it consistent with what we know of God's law
and God's goodness?
If not, we know it's not God's voice or God's
message.
If we have any doubts that God does indeed speak
to us,
Reflection on our own personal stories can help
assure us.
My own story that’s most convincing to me,
Involves today's Annunciation Gospel.
The Annunciation is on March 25, nine months
before Christmas.
On March 26, 1999 I was struggling to decide
whether to apply
To the deacon program.
I’d completed the application and been carrying it
around for days
In my briefcase.
If I didn’t mail it that day I'd have to wait
another two years to apply.
In those days I was the server at the 8:00 daily
Mass.
And as I walked to Church that morning I was thinking—praying:
God give me some guidance here.
Give me some message—some sign—
Let me know for sure if I should mail in
this application.
Usually, I was the first one into the sacristy.
But that morning, as I entered, I was surprised to
find a priest.
Just standing there in the nearly dark room.
Not Fr. Begg, who was scheduled, but a priest I
didn't recognize.
I turned on the lights and we chatted a bit,
But didn't introduce ourselves.
We looked at the historic scenes painted on the
sacristy windows.
One showed the two ships, the Ark and
the Dove,
That brought the first Catholic settlers
to Maryland.
The priest mentioned that the day before,
On the Feast of the Annunciation,
He had blessed the replicas of those
ships in Baltimore Harbor.
Our lector came into the sacristy to help with
setting up for the Mass.
Being more polite (or at least less preoccupied)
than I was,
She said, Hello father, I'm Elsa.
He responded, Good morning, I'm Fr Keeler.
I went about setting up the altar.
When I came back to the sacristy, Fr Begg had
arrived
And they were both vested.
The bells began to ring and we lined up to go out
to the altar.
At that instant, Fr Keeler pulled a scarlet skullcap from his briefcase
And set it on his head.
And I began thinking:
Ah, Fr Keeler is Cardinal Keeler from
Baltimore—
And my mind began to debate whether this was the
sign I'd asked for.
God sent a Cardinal to meet me for morning Mass.
But then again, I've served with Cardinals and Bishops
before.
A Cardinal showing up today is certainly a surprise and uncommon,
But it's not unheard of.
Maybe it's not a sign at all.
So I started the Mass right here at this bench.
Distracted, paying no attention.
Totally engrossed in my mental debate over whether Cardinal Keeler
Was my sign.
Suddenly I realized that Fr Begg was standing right in front of me,
Starting his homily.
Evidently, I'd automatically stood up at the Alleluia—and it was now time to sit.
And it was well past time to tune-in to the Mass.
Fr Begg gave one of his famously
brief-but-powerful homilies.
So brief, I can include it here—
(He was, by the way, totally unaware of my unmailed
application.)
He said: “Yesterday
was the Feast of the Annunciation.
Last week we had the Feast of St Joseph, the patron
of our parish.
And in a few weeks we'll have Good Friday.
The key figures in those holy days are Mary and
Joseph and Jesus.
Besides being members of the Holy Family,
What did these three people have in common?
They all listened to God's call—and did
what he called them to do.
When are you going to do what God is
calling you to do?”
There it was—my indisputable sign.
Through Fr. Begg—messenger of God.
If I hadn’t snapped out of my mental debate, and
started listening,
I could have missed it.
That story convinces me that God does speak
to us personally.
What's your story?
We can all find personal stories of God speaking
to us.
Maybe more or less dramatically.
Whether through that voice of the Spirit within us,
Or through an external messenger.
In these final days of Advent, let's recall and
reflect
On those times God has spoken to us personally,
individually.
Maybe we didn't always realize that it was God speaking.
Maybe we dismissed some of His messages
As being just our own thoughts, or as being a mere
coincidence.
Then let's strengthen our active two-way communication
with God.
Perhaps starting with some formal prayer or some
ad hoc petition,
But following that with some quiet listening.
Honing our ability to
recognize His voice and His messages.
Building our confidence in that communication.
So that like Mary, and Joseph and Jesus,
When we do get a message, we will recognize it and
act on it.
When are you going to do what God is
calling you to do?
