Bishop encourages Notre Dame High community to look to Mary as an example

Growing up isn’t easy.  That’s not really news.  It has always been true.  True for your peers and sisters and brothers.  True for your friends.  True for your parents and their parents before them.  True for your teachers, your priests and even for your bishop!  Think with me for a minute.  What are the challenges and problems you face?  Life can be complicated especially when you are a teenager.  So many things change: the way you think.  The things you believe.  The way in which you relate to one another.

You may wonder why I am bringing this up, especially as you are getting ready for Christmas.  I mean, shouldn’t we be thinking of happy things rather than things that may be a challenge?  Well, this is a joyful time … as the Christmas song says, “it’s the most wonderful time of the year!”  Well, that’s exactly why I am bringing this up.  How did Christmas happen?  How did our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Messiah, enter the world?

If you have been listening to the Gospel at Mass lately, you have been hearing about Mary.  She was only a teenager, just like you, when the Angel Gabriel appeared to her to tell her she would be the Mother of God!  Those who study the Bible tell us that she was about 13 at the time.  She wasn’t married.  She was expecting a baby.  And she was a virgin.  Talk about complicated!  She was chosen from all eternity, from among all women to give birth to the Messiah.  The people of Israel had been waiting for this moment for hundreds of years, for God’s promise of a Savior to be fulfilled!  And it was this unmarried, teenage virgin whom God had chosen to bring Christ into the world.  Earlier in St. Luke’s Gospel, Mary was given this news by the Angel and she asked “how can this be?”  The power of the Most High, the power of God.  But she did not run away from this incredible challenge, this incredible opportunity.  She said “yes … Let it be done to me.”

Mary was like you.  Living her young life, growing up with her parents, doing all the things Jewish kids did at her time.  But she was different from you and me in this way: she was without sin, ever.  God prepared her to be the Mother of his Son.  And today, after coming to visit her cousin Elizabeth, she sang the Song of Praise we heard in St. Luke’s Gospel, “the Almighty has done good things for me and holy is his name…he has looked on his lowly servant” and because he did, “all generations will call me blessed.”  Mary lived her young life, her whole life with faith and trust in God.

And, so, that’s why I mention how complicated life can be for a teenager.  But, because of the complication she faced with faith, God led her through the greatest, most important moment the world has ever known: the birth of Jesus Christ.  That is the story of Christmas.  And of all the other things that Christmas means, all the things that we associate with Christmas, Mary stands out and gives us an example of faith and how to respond to God’s will, as complicated and sometimes difficult as that may be.

The days ahead are joyful, fun and truly great.  But as you celebrate Christmas with your family, think of Mary.  Invite her to give you strength and courage when you need it and faith in the goodness of her Son Jesus.  Remember what the Angel told her: nothing is impossible with God.  And always put your faith and trust in him.  Merry Christmas everyone!