Sunday, December 21 @ 10:00 AM
Fourth Sunday of Advent
St. Augustine Cathedral
Also: See photos from the mass and side altar dedication
My dear sisters and brothers, a few years ago, at one of our meetings—the meeting of all the bishops that occurs in Baltimore—one morning I found myself in an elevator with about eight other bishops. Two in particular were engaged in what was, to me, a very interesting conversation. And of course, being who I am, I eavesdropped a bit to listen to what they were saying.
One was a newly ordained bishop who was the head of a very small diocese, and the other was a much older bishop. The younger bishop was talking about the problems he was having trying to convince priests and deacons to take new assignments. The older bishop listened patiently and finally took him by the arm and said, “Excellency, there are five words you need to remind those priests and deacons who do not do what you ask.”
The younger bishop looked at him, and the older bishop said, “He who hesitates is lost.”
Meaning that, for the older bishop, if a priest or deacon hesitates to do what he is asked, it will not go well for whoever says no. “He who hesitates is lost.” It is a proverb we have probably heard many times in our lives.
Its meaning is obvious: life demands, at times, decisive action. You need to take time to figure out what to do, but when you know what you need to do, you need to do it. You need to do it with conviction and courage, with zeal and fortitude. Great leaders know that. Many times, it is a lesson that you and I—myself included—need to be reminded of.
For even in the history of salvation, this has been something that the great saints have struggled with. That list goes from Moses, to Isaiah, to Jeremiah, to Hannah and Elizabeth, and even Saint Joseph himself. As we hear in the Gospel, having heard this remarkable revelation from Mary, Joseph hesitates. He decides to go down a different path until the angel literally intervenes and says, “You are to take her as your wife, for she bears a child of great price—God with us.” And then Joseph decides to follow.
You and I, in our own lives, often hesitate, do we not? At least I do. At times when I have prayed and it has become clear in my mind what the Lord is asking, I can come up with a thousand excuses why not to do it, or to wait, or to delay, or to make sure—“Lord, do You really mean what You say?”
For all of us, perhaps it is the fear and anxiety of doing something that will put us in a bad light before others. Perhaps at times it is the stubbornness of my heart and yours, mired in our ego and pride, that says, “I think this is what I should do,” rather than, “Lord, with all due respect, what do You think I should do?”
Sometimes it is fear of failure—when you and I are afraid to start something that we may not be able to finish—as if that which the Lord asks us to do, He asks us to do alone. But we know, in fact, that He gives us the grace of His Holy Spirit to bring to completion anything He asks, big or small.
There are many reasons you and I have used to hesitate, and truth be told, much has been lost because of it. But you and I gather today to honor the great Mother of God in the shrine that we have designed—by God’s grace—to be a fitting place to honor her: the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
She alone, in all of salvation history, is the one who did not hesitate, who did not wait, who did not debate, who did not tell the Lord, “I think there is a better way—and I know what that way is.”
She is the one who always accepted what God asked of her, even at the foot of the Cross—silent, sorrowful, but never hesitant. She never hesitated because her heart is immaculate. It was not divided, as yours and mine often are, by our sinfulness, our ego, or our own agenda.
She walked through life with a singular desire: to make her life the path for her Son, to do what He asked, and never delay or hesitate. “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to Your word”—not just at the Annunciation, but every day of her earthly life.
And so, my dear friends, on this Fourth Sunday of Advent, may I suggest that, for your spiritual homework and mine, as we await the great festival of Christmas in just a few days, we spend some time in prayer and ask ourselves this question:
What have I been hesitating to do that the Lord has been asking me to do?
What is it that you and I know in our hearts the Lord is prompting—for our own good or for the good of those whom we love? And can we ask Him for the grace to stop delaying, stop making excuses, stop reverting back to my own opinion or agenda, and stop allowing my sinfulness to get in the way of the holy will of God?
Is there one thing in your life—or mine—that we have hesitated to do?
Today, as we honor the Mother of God, let us ask for her maternal love, her prayer, and her intercession, that she may go to her Son and ask for the grace so that you and I may do what we need to do.
Let us pray that you and I will not be among those who, one day, stand before the Lord—her Son, our God—and have to admit that we hesitated over and over again. And let us pray that we will not be among those who are lost.
