This piece is from “Let Advent Be Advent”, published by Messenger Publications in 2017.
Kitchens are great places!
So much family life is lived there. There may be better furnished rooms in the house but there’s something about the kitchen that draws us in. I like to imagine the Annunciation (today’s Gospel passage (Luke 1:26-38) taking place in the kitchen. It seems the right room to me. The room where bread is baked, the room where food is prepared, the room that feeds the body and the Soul. We’ll imagine her there anyway.
Who do you see when you look at Mary – Our Lady? An aunt of mine was once showing a man around her home and in nearly every room she had some picture or other, depicting (as she likes to call her) “The Blessed Mother”. The man, possibly not overly religious, was a little perturbed and felt he had to comment: “You have a lot of pictures of Mary”, he said. Without a flinch my aunt replied, “Oh but of course, I consider her a personal friend.” No more to be said!
It’s a great way to look at Mary – as a “personal friend” – and in that light you can see why God would dispatch Gabriel to meet her in the kitchen. He knew what sort she was. There was a generosity of spirit there and a kindness that is only truly found in the best of friends. I think that’s how she would want us to see her today as we journey with her to Bethlehem in the company of Joseph. She would want us to see her as someone whose door is open to us – no need for formalities or elaborate ritual. The door is open, the light is on and she awaits our approach.
Sometimes we can put distance between us and Mary – the “Blessed Mother” – the personal friend by wrapping her in too much gold and ornamentation. That’s not what Gabriel encountered. He met a young woman, full of life, ready for marriage – at home in herself and by herself. She knew her story of faith and that all have a part to play in the telling of that story. In the kitchen, all was revealed and within its familiar surrounds and smells she found that “Yes” that was and remains so badly needed in our world.
Queens are found in palaces. Mothers, blessed and otherwise like good friends are found at home.
A MOMENT TO PRAY
Lord,
Thank you for the gift of Mary, your Blessed Mother, to our lives. When you spoke to John, standing at the foot of the cross and said “Son, behold your mother”, we are told John made a place for her in his home. That place has been assured by countless generations since that day. We are blessed to have Mary in our lives and as part of our Faith Story. Remind us that she found the “yes” to fulfill your word and in that reminding, give us the courage to likewise do your will.
“Let what you have said be done unto me.”
Amen.