+ A professor at the seminary used to say: “Do the obvious.” He wanted us to observe, think, then act.
Well, today, if he were addressing Hannah or Mary, he would surely say: “Do the obvious.”
But my question is: “Is it that obvious?” And even if it is, did you — Hannah and Mary — go overboard?
Over the top? Get excessive? Go volcanic?
+ Hannah, sterile with her “closed womb,” was filled with sorrow, cried about her sterility openly, and publicly and frequently prayed — “Please, please, please, Lord, give me a son.”
She promised to dedicate him completely to the Lord, should he be so kind and generous to give her a son.
And then — boom!
God gives to her a son whom she called Samuel (which means, “Because I asked the Lord for him”).
Then she did the obvious: She gave “thanks and praise.”
Actually, she did a little more than give thanks, as she kept her promise and gave Samuel back to the Lord.
“Over the top,” but she kept her promise and was thankful to her God!
+ Mary was also blessed, and in the moment that Elizabeth noted and expressed the blessings and greatness that had been bestowed on Mary, she too “did the obvious.”
Mary gave “thanks and praise.” She gave a little more “praise” to God for her blessings.
In what has come to be called the “Magnificat,” she effusively sang praise to God for the blessings he had given to her.
As Elizabeth pointed the light on Mary, Mary grabbed that light and reflected directly on the Lord her God, giving praise, praise, and more praise.
+ These historically-rooted narrative reflections on Hannah and Mary are exactly that.
And, of course, they are beautiful and expressive and faith-filled reflections.
But they are also more than that.
As usual, we are called by this word of God to look into the word with the “eyes of the heart” and called to see a reflection — our reflection, a faith-filled reflection. Then we are asked to “do the obvious.”
+ Have we been blessed? Has God heard our prayers? Has God given to us and made us to be fruitful, blessed, graced, and holy in his sight?
Does God ever take his hand away from us, or does he hold tight his grip and never, never, never lets us go?
Are we not like Hannah and Mary, in the position that the only “obvious” thing to do is to give our God “thanks and praise” each and every day?
Let us “do the obvious,” and let us open ourselves yet again to the joy, glory, beauty, and awesomeness of the great day of the Nativity of our Lord, so that we will find ourselves precisely on the 25th of December singing, shouting, cooing, humming, breathing, and dancing our “thanks and praise” to God!
Father Perry D. Leiker is the 14th pastor of St. Bernard Catholic Church. Reach him at (323) 255-6142. Email Father Perry at perry.leiker@gmail.com. Follow Father Perry on Twitter: @MrDeano76.
