“Is There Room at the Inn?”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
December 22 – 23, 2018
Scripture: Luke 1: 39-45
39 During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, 42 cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord* should come to me? 44 For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.
The New Testament is the beginning of our salvation. It was provided by Mary who is the Ark of the Covenant, and recorded by Luke. He took it all down. Mary was filled with love and was the epitome of obedience. Even though she didn’t understand when the angel Gabriel told her that she would bear a son, she said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:26-38). She didn’t ask for proof, and she didn’t make excuses. She simply obeyed.
When the angel, Gabriel, told Zecharia that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a son, he did not believe. Instead, Zecharia said, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”(Luke 1:18). As a result, he was struck mute until the birth of his son, John. When Mary was told that her relative, Elizabeth, had conceived a son, unlike Zecharia, she believed and immediately went to visit Elizabeth. Love is in immediate action. Once we say yes to Jesus, we can bring Him to others.
We study translated and retranslated scripture. Many of the expressions are those not used in our culture, so you have to read scripture in the context and period in which it was written. Once at Fort Bragg, I was sitting next to a friend of mine, a Rabbi, during mandatory chaplain training being taught by a minister. The topic was the Old Testament. I noticed that my friend was getting very red in the face…he was quite angry about the misinformation being provided. The Rabbi corrected the minister, and justified his explanation by saying that his peeps, the Jews, actually wrote the Old Testament.
Nobody wants to play the role of innkeeper in reenactments of the Christmas story. But, they didn’t know Joseph, Mary, or Jesus. There is a picture of Christ knocking on the door of a house; however, the picture is wrong, because the doorknob is on the wrong side. Only we can let Jesus in. In a way, we are our own innkeeper, and the doorknob is inside us. How do we let Him in? By going to confession and by taking Holy Communion.
How will you apply this message to your life? He is knocking….will you let Him in?
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