Homily for 4^th Sunday of Advent 2009

On Friday, 18^th December, we celebrated a Decommissioning liturgy for Ozanam House, the men's refuge. You have heard it has to be replaced. It has been part of the Nambour scene for about 20 years. Many people have contributed to its mission to provide hope to the homeless. It was established through the vision and work of people like Darryl Donohue, Des Moran, Bernie Gormley all of whom are gone from us. There have been many more then and since who enabled that mission to continue on behalf of homeless men.

There are many stories to be told about events at Ozanam House over the years. Carmel Donohue tells a story that is incisive in what it says about the men who have found a home there. Her husband Darryl came home one night after admitting men for the night. He told her that he asked one man who was his next of kin in case he had and accident or some such thing while on the premises. The man replied that he had none. None at all? No, no one. Then who should we contact if something does go wrong. What if you die? Then, he replied, that is easy, just call Cleanaway! A humorous reply be one which demonstrates the extremes to which people can come with no one to call family and nowhere to call home.

That story immediately reminded me of a movie I saw recently. "Samson and Delilah". It is a pretty distressing yet deeply moving Australian movie about a teenage aboriginal girl and boy living on a remote community in central Australia. It depicts the isolation, boredom, violence, addiction and hopelessness of many such places. We have heard much about such places over the last few years. The two teenagers seek to escape the violence by getting into Alice Springs. There they find they are aliens in a foreign land. They no more belong there, than in their own dysfunctional community. In stead of finding safety violence once again drives them to flight. They end up in an isolated deserted hut rejected by their own people as well as the white community. The get the disused windmill going and water starts to flow in the cattle trough. As they bathe in the flowing water you are left wondering if this is a new beginning or will the cycle repeat itself.

The redeeming thread through it all is a compassion that flourishes out of the adversity when everything has been taken from them. And a love love that sees beyond appearances to the human heart.

So we hear today the wonderful account of the visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth in the Judean hills. To be childless or a virgin in Jewish culture at the time was one of the worst things that could befall a woman. It could bring disgrace to a family and even rejection. Our surprising God often chooses the least respected people to reveal himself to. In her song, the Magnificat, Mary praises God for just that amazing thing. God "has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant." Now the "lowliness" of Mary as a servant here does not refer to the position of a servant in a rich household. Rather, it refers to Mary's poverty and powerlessness in her world.

On a broader view it is also speaking of the lowliness of the people Israel, the least powerful people amongst its neighbours, whom God has brought out of captivity in Egypt. Mary personifies Israel of the new covenant as Elizabeth personifies Israel of the old covenant. Elizabeth from her barrenness brings forth a prophet. Mary from her virginity brings forth a saviour. Not in great and powerful Jerusalem but in the lonely Judean hills and in little Bethlehem God surprises us. Not in Beijing or Washington but in desperate aboriginal communities and on the streets of our town God's extraordinary compassion and justice can be found.

It seems that it is only when we are empty of the things that fill our minds and days that there is any room for God to enter. God fills the hungry with good things sends the rich away empty, Mary sings. Let us then not try too hard this Christmas to get everything done and everything right. Give God the time and space to fill us. The future hope that the birth of Christ promises is already with us. This is the good news we celebrate at Christmas.

Fr Graham