At last, Advent is upon us! If your house is anything like mine, the Christmas tree is already up and Christmas music has slowly crept into the car with us. But we are just at the beginning of this season of waiting, and I am trying to keep myself in Advent instead of jumping ahead to celebrate Christmas. To ground myself in the spirit of holy waiting that is Advent, I have found myself prayerfully journeying with Mary in her last weeks of pregnancy. Because sometimes, in the fullness of the December calendar of Christmas pageants, family gatherings, baking days, and shopping trips, we forget that what we are really doing in Advent is awaiting a Baby.

One of my dear friends is in her last few weeks of pregnancy with her fifth baby. I can’t help but think she has a little better idea of what to expect (practically speaking) than Mary might have had two thousand years ago. But while my friend may be adept at swaddling, breastfeeding, and discerning a hungry cry from a tired one, I think Mary has so much to teach us in the way of hopeful and faithful waiting. I invite you to join me in sitting with Mary this Advent as she patiently waits for her precious Baby Boy’s arrival.

We are given little in Scripture of the context of Mary’s first days, weeks, and months as the Mother of God. The details we do have are beautiful. We know there was an angel, who gave her a broad-brush overview of the holiness of her child, the supernatural circumstances surrounding His conception, and the role He would play in God’s story – but very few details about how He would live and die. We know there was a visit with her beloved cousin, Elizabeth, who affirmed the message of the angel and Mary’s own faith for believing it. But what happened after Mary left Elizabeth’s home for her own? How did she spend those last weeks of pregnancy, which for me, at least, were fraught with sleeplessness, physical discomfort, and a general sense of just wanting to be done already?

If I could sit down with Mary in the weeks leading up to Jesus’ birth, I might ask her how she stayed present to God in the waiting. Mary, how did you resist the urge to speed up the process? How did you let go of the need to know all the details: how your labor and birth would go, where you would be, and what women might be there to help you? How did you let go of worries about what your child’s life might be like? How did you prepare for the most high-stakes motherhood assignment of all time – birthing and nurturing the Son of God? 

I might ask her, just like I have asked my close friend, how she is feeling – not just physically, but at the heart level. Mary, what were you hoping for in this new stage of your life? What were you asking God for in the near term, and throughout the life of your child? What were your dreams for Him? Oh, how I wish I could hear her answers. Don’t you? 

I imagine Mary returned to the words of both the angel and her cousin Elizabeth as she pondered how the promise of God might unfold. The angel, who reminded her, “Do not be afraid… for nothing shall be impossible for God” (Luke 1:30, 37), imbuing her with a sense of strength and trust. Elizabeth, who first professed Mary’s unique holiness in trusting God: “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Luke 1:45). In other words, God is in control – and don’t forget that you took Him at His word!

What would it feel like to take God at His word in your own personal circumstances of waiting? Can you ask Mary to help you to not be afraid, but also to consent to God’s action in your life and to actively say yes to His will? Perhaps it would fill you with joy and faith the way it did Mary, whose response to Elizabeth’s affirmation was the beautiful words of the Magnificat, proudly proclaiming that God’s reign was at hand here and now in the Child she was awaiting. 

Ultimately, God asked Mary to be herself and to show up with her whole self for the child He sent into the world. As all parents know, there is precious little a baby needs other than you. The need for you is constant and full, however. Exhausting and beautiful all at once. God told Mary she would be enough. God also believes that you will be enough for whatever He has asked you to wait for, do, or be. Do you believe Him?

May we, like Mary, show up with our whole selves to witness the entrance of Christ into the world this Christmas. May we attend to Jesus the way Mary and Joseph did, with all their attention directed to Him, totally devoted to Him in every thought and action. At the end of a pregnancy, it can feel like all your energy is directed toward the coming baby. In Mary’s case, and in ours, truly nothing else matters than being lovingly present to the Child Jesus in our midst.

Join me in praying the Canticle of Mary as we joyfully await Christ’s coming:

“And Mary said:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

my spirit rejoices in God my savior.

For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;

behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.

The Might One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

His mercy is from age to age

to those who fear him.

He has shown might with his arm,

dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.

He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones

but lifted up the lowly.

The hungry he has filled with good things;

the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped Israel his servant,

remembering his mercy,

according to his promise to our fathers,

To Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

Amen.

(Luke 1:46-55)