As it was then, is now

Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” (Lk 1:41b-44)

Oftentimes, people would visit Mother Teresa in Calcutta to observe her as she and her sisters served the poor.  One day, such a visitor accompanied Mother as she made her way through the streets.  She knelt down to embrace a person who was apparently dying in the gutter, asking her sisters for help to bring this man to shelter, to bathe him, and feed him.  Her visitor was amazed.  He told Mother Teresa that he would not have done what she did then for a million dollars.  Mother Teresa smiled and said she would not do it for a million dollars either.  But she would do it for Christ.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta is an Elizabeth for our times.  Like Mary’s kinswoman, the Holy Spirit filled Teresa, giving her the eyes to see Christ in the poor and destitute of Calcutta, giving her the strength to serve Christ in the poor and destitute of Calcutta, giving her the courage to proclaim the advent of Christ, and, in turn, to be the advent of Christ to the poor and the destitute of Calcutta.

Larry DePrimo is also an Elizabeth for me, an Advent reminder that Jesus comes into my life every time I am faced with someone in need, someone created by God in his image and likeness, someone who Jesus came down from heaven to save, someone who Jesus insists I should help, for in helping that person, I am helping Jesus.  You may not know Larry DePrimo, but you have probably seen him.  He is the New York City policeman who, on his rounds one frigid night a few weeks ago, saw a barefoot beggar huddled on the sidewalk.  Officer DePrimo, moved by pity – and, I would assert, filled with the Holy Spirit – bought the man thermal socks and warm boots with his own money.  A tourist happened to snap a picture of him helping the man, and this picture quickly became a viral sensation on the internet.

I come to realize that my own life is filled with these advents, these comings of Jesus, if only I pay attention; if only I let the Spirit fill me as it filled Elizabeth, as it filled Mother Teresa, as it filled Larry DePrimo.

One of my favorite Advent hymns - one of favorite anytime hymns – is O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.  Perhaps I should add a companion hymn - Come Holy Ghost.  For unless the Holy Ghost takes up his rest in my soul, I’ll miss the advent of Emmanuel who every day presents himself to me, who ransoms me from exile, who teaches me wisdom’s way of to go, who is my victory o’er the grave.

Happy Advent.