One of the amazing things about our universe is that it is expanding. This is impossible to imagine because it is not expanding into anything. Space itself is expanding. This is a key part of big bang cosmology. Not only did the universe have a beginning, but it is constantly growing. I was reminded of that weird reality when thinking about today‘s readings.
As we approach the celebration of Christmas, as we approach the mystery of the Incarnation, we meet the only slightly less miraculous reality of our Lady. We have mentioned before that the whole of creation only exists to become the Body of God, the Temple of God, to effect the nuptial union between God and creation. God creates so that God can enter into creation and in doing so raise creation into the divine life.
And God alone knows what is necessary for that all to take place. God alone knows why God has created things in a certain way such that this all can occur. That this is beyond us is a constant theme of the Bible. We might think of the famous ending of the Book of Job, or the various psalms that hymn this.
But God has told us what is necessary. In the Church, through her sacraments, liturgies and teaching, we are given all we need for salvation. Again, we have spoken about this before. How, since God alone knows what is necessary for us to be suitable for this process, it therefore makes no sense for people to argue against God’s commandments and the teachings of the Church in this regard?
But having said all that, there seems to be one obvious fact about creation: it must grow. Just as a woman grows in order to give birth, just as the universe seems to be growing, so the saints often talk about God stretching our hearts. I have mentioned before the story of St Philip Neri, whose heart literally grew as a sign of God’s presence. So we have God not only purifying us from sin, but also stretching us to make room for God’s presence to dwell within us.
It is hard here not to get too literal with the metaphor, not to get too physical; as though God were something larger than us. God is obviously not like us. God is not a thing. God does not have dimensions.
However, there does seem to be some truth to the idea of making room for God. Of emptying oneself in preparation for the Lord to arrive. We hear this in many places in scripture, perhaps most famously in St Paul’s letter to the Philippians in relation to Christ, Christ emptying himself, taking on our humanity, even to death, death on the cross. How this self-emptying paradoxically grows us.
And today we have another example for our reflection. In our Lady, we have the one who is truly in the image of her Son, who has maintained her dignity as being in the image and likeness of God, who alone through the grace of God was deemed worthy to be the dwelling place of God, whose humanity truly was taken by God first as the site of the Incarnation, and second to rule with him in glory.
And we see an example of that emptying which is somehow also growth in our gospel today.
Our gospel is famously the story of the Visitation. It is preceded equally famously by the story of the Annunciation, when Mary learns that she is to be the mother of God. Yet, even at the moment, when she receives the vocation above all other vocations from God, she still forgets herself and thinks about her cousin Elizabeth.
In that Philippian’s hymn I mentioned earlier, St Paul writes that Jesus did not think his equality with God was something to be grasped. We see the same thing today with our Lady. Her elevation to be the mother of God, her experience of the overwhelming love of God is immediately realised in service, in love of neighbour. She pours herself out. She shows why her humanity is truly fit for her son to assume; an assumption that will lead in time to her own Assumption.
And so in these last days of Advent, let us ask the intercession of our Lady. Like her, may God stretch out hearts. Stretch our lives. But let us be very aware of what we are praying for. We are asking to participate in his Cross, where he is stretched to bridge heaven and earth. May we this Advent truly become the Body of Christ and the Temple of the holy Spirit like our Lady.
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