DECEMBER 24, 2017
9:00 AM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASS
Lift with your legs, not your back.
You’ve probably heard that. Maybe you’ve seen a sign in a workplace. Maybe your doctor told you that after you did the opposite and found yourself in his office … or the emergency room … and you were suffering the consequences.
There is a reason for why this is good advice. In a nutshell, the reason is: “bipedalism.” The fact that we stand on two legs, and not four (like a cat or a dog) places our strongest muscles below our center of gravity – our hips.
And so, there is actual science – both physics and biology – that supports (no pun intended) the often-heard, but often-disregarded advice to lift with your legs, not your back.
Oh, yeah, and don’t turn or twist while lifting.
Today is the 4th Sunday in Advent. There is not much of a 4th Week of Advent this year. We get barely 24 hours with the fourth candle lit on the Advent wreath, before we’ll be lighting all the Christmas trees, putting baby Jesus in the manger, and wondering where all these other people sitting in the pews are in-between now and Easter.
Nonetheless, todays Gospel reading, which may sound familiar, was read on Wednesday, and is always read on December 20. It may also sound even more familiar since we heard it on December 12, and December 8.
And just for the record, it was read on March 25, August 22, and October 7.
So, depending on how the calendar runs in any given year, this reading is read six or seven times. The focus of this reading is Faith.
Now, to be clear, there are two kinds of faith: human and divine. One is used to believe the person sitting next to you … or the person who lives next to you … whomever that may be – your neighbor, your kid, your spouse … or even a total stranger. The other is used to believe in God.
Secondly, faith is based on two factors: authority and integrity. Authority means that we have an assurance that the person has adequate knowledge of the subject matter. And integrity means that we have an assurance that the person is not being deceptive.
But, in regards to these two types of faith, you have to use the right one in the right place.
If you ascribe divine faith to the guy up the street who pontificates about little green men, and Area 51, and a whole plethora of interesting – if not amusing – conspiracy theories … well, you may find yourself wearing a tinfoil hat, and emptying your bank account, if not drinking bad Kool Aid.
It is important to exercise human faith when dealing with human things.
On the other hand, if you ascribe human faith in your own dealings with God and with the things of God … then you will find yourself arguing with your grandmother about the power of prayer, or the value of life, or the meaning of everything.
And in that case, you’re going to find yourself being uninvited to family events in the not-so-distant future.
So, what’s a guy (or gal) supposed to do?
The key is found in the Sacraments. In Baptism, we were all infused with the theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love. In Confirmation, these supernatural graces were strengthened by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In Reconciliation, they are repaired and restored. And in the Eucharist, they are replenished and strengthened.
The supernatural virtue of Faith helps us to recognize what is worthy of divine faith, as well as helps us to go – beyond our own understanding – to believe in the things of God.
Because in terms of authority and integrity – God’s got it ALL going on.
Mary demonstrates the proper application of faith, both human and divine, in this particular passage of Scripture from St. Luke. While in the preceding and in the following sections of St. Luke, we hear other characters playing out a not-so-balanced application of faith: Zechariah, Elizabeth, John the Baptist, St. Joseph. But, in the end, they all figure it out.
In this Gospel today, Mary – through God’s grace – shows us how it’s done.
It’s a lot like remembering to lift with your legs, not your back … you might get away with it for a while, but when you do it wrong … you’ll know it.
As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us seek always to engage our Baptismal graces of Faith, Hope, and Love – topping them off at the wellspring of grace that flows from the altar. May our journey through this season of Advent help us to properly discern things – both human and divine … and properly apply our faculty of faith.
