Our Chaplain, Dr Brian Mac Cuarta SJ, shares an Advent reflection

We are in the dark days of December. In Christ Church meadow, the flower beds, once so colourful, have assumed a monotonous green hue. The trees, once alive with bursting buds, and then later a riot of colour - russet, yellow, brown – are now etched black against the wintry sky. Nature has gone underground. 

     Nature teaches us silence, patience, and waiting in this wintry Advent season. Our spirits, like nature, may seem to have diminished, even died. But precisely in the darkness of Advent we nourish hope for the one whose coming transforms us, and the waiting world. 

Mary walks with us on our Advent journey. Like her, we are expectant. She was left shocked and perplexed by the conversation with the angel. Yet, without having a clear idea of how things might unfold, she said yes to the angel’s message. Hearing that her cousin Elizabeth was with child, Mary dropped everything and hurried to the hill country to be with her relative. The two mothers-to-be greeted each other joyfully, each collaborating generously and with great trust in the unfolding of God’s plan. 

The scene of this encounter features in one of Campion Hall’s hidden gems – the small Lady Chapel to the right of the altar in the main Chapel. The walls and ceiling are entirely covered by the murals of Charles Mahony, who painted these in the 1940s. Scenes from Mary’s life are depicted with men and women, boys and girls, from wartime England. Mary and Elizabeth are dressed as ordinary women. They meet in an English country garden. We recognize the local plants and flowers. 

     Advent continues to unfold in our place, the murals suggest, to people like us. The hope and joy of Mary and Elizabeth touch us. Their simple openness as the angel shared God’s plan inspires us. Kicking in Elizabeth’s womb, the baby who became John the Baptist already points to his master, Jesus. ‘Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?’, Elizabeth exclaimed. ‘For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy’. Mary responds to Elizabeth’s elation with her song, which has become central to Christian prayer: ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord … because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid’.

These women accepted the word of God with generosity and in hope. They actively participated in God’s desire to enter more fully in human history by sending the Son. In silence, Mary listened deeply to the Lord. With many questions unanswered, she trusted the one addressing her. 

Her hope inspires us, especially in seasons of darkness. We are not alone. Our lives and contribution, just like those of Mary and Elizabeth, do matter. In Jesus, God’s love for us overflows. We are created in God’s image and our life, with its joys and messiness, its apparent cul-de-sacs and open roads, is a journey towards our divine source. Russian dissident Alexei Navalny died in an Arctic prison camp last year. At his trial, Navalny spoke of the strength his Christian faith gave him, as he undertook the path of protest against corruption and tyranny. Advent hope in the infant to be born proclaims that evil and violent domination will not have the last word. May the hope of Mary, of Elizabeth and of the Christian witnesses of our time accompany us on our Advent pilgrimage to greet the baby in the Bethlehem stable.