Waiting for the Unexpected
Lk. 1:26-38
With the angel’s announcement to Mary, something unprecedented takes place: the time of religion ends and the time of faith begins. Human beings, who have always been intent on reaching the sky, are now visited by it.
Mary is the image of human expectation: she creates within herself a space in which everything can come to fruition.
This creation of interior space is the profound meaning of her virginity: Mary is a virgin because she has emptied herself through death to self, to self-centeredness, to non-action, aware that the maximum can be accomplished when action finally comes to a halt.
Mary is the disciple who teaches a profound truth common to every spirituality, namely: to expect nothing but the unexpected. As long as we are waiting for what we believe we already know, we see only phantoms. Waiting must be empty, free, not dictated by demands or spoiled by desires, but only grateful for what it wants to attain.
Yes, waiting without knowing what will come is open to unpredictability. I am not waiting for what I want but for what I perceive as good for me. If travelers expect to find things they think they already know, then they would never experience the joy of discovery. They would simply be visiting places about which they already have preconceived ideas. And explorers would cease to exist.
Taken from, homilies, by Fr. Paolo Scquizzato
I will sing forever
the promises of the Lord.
