Fourth Sunday of Advent  December 21^st, 2008 - We are only a few days away from the most beautiful night of the year, Christmas night, the night of the birth of our Savior and during this days our children are reminding us with their presentations, Christmas carols and posadas, that Jesus is the center of our Christmas, that He is the reason for the season.

Precisely in one of these presentations, of Christmas, a little girl was telling her friend to please change characters with her, because she did not like hers. When the teacher asked her why she wanted to change? She responded: Miss because it is much easier to be an Angel than being the mother of Christ and this little girl was right.

Yes, being the Mother of Christ, the Son of God, is not easy at all and it wasn’t so for the virgin, as we see in the Gospel. Mary’s yes, was the greatest and most difficult act of Faith in history, much more than the exodus from Egypt, much more than when Noah built the Arc, much more than when Moses crossed the red river. Yes, God asked this young lady nothing more than to be the Mother of His Son. Something that had never occurred and that would never repeat itself.

Can you imagine for a few instances, heaven and earth paused. That in these seconds, the faith and destiny of all humanity and all creation were in jeopardy, at risk. The angels and the saints, the just souls, and even the demons were looking with fear what was about to happen, that is why the Angel first fortifies Mary with these words: “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”…Yes, Mary is not alone in this, she is not alone in her anguish, she is not alone in her Mission, God in person accompanies us, then the Virgin responded: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” At this moment the miracle is produced, the Son of God becomes man in her womb, the Savior has come, to overcome sin and death, the destiny of man has been saved.

All of this was marvelous, but very difficult for the Virgin. For her Faith, was not only about believing in the truths that we know, but in trusting God completely, to put in His hands her entire life. Yes, in spite that everyone in Israel was awaiting the Messiah, who would believe that She had been chosen to be His Mother, much less who would believe that she had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit? Her holy parents and Saint Joseph, her husband doubted about her purity, honesty, and fidelity. Mary really was alone with God. She arrived at the greatest act of faith that consists not only of believing in the word of God, but in risking your life for Him and Mary did it thanks to her courage, to her deliverance we have Christ and we can celebrate Christmas.

But this Sunday Mary’s yes, reminds us that although it was difficult for Her to be the Mother of God, us Christians are also called to do the same: Mother of Jesus, although Jesus was born in Bethlehem, her real desire is to be born in the hearts of believers, to be reproduced in all of us.

Like we have said, the Virgin Mary, through faith she conceived Christ in her heart first, in her soul before she did in her body. That is why she is mother of Christ and in a human and spiritual sense. We cannot imitate the Virgin in conceiving the child physically; but we can and should imitate her in conceiving the child spiritually, through faith and obedience. In this sense being the Mother of Christ is possible for every Christian and we should all become mothers of Christ.

What is the spiritual maternity of Christ and how does it occur? Jesus in person gives us the answer, like Mark says, that they went to look for Him and He was teaching and they tell Him: “Lord, your Mother and your brothers are outside and are looking for you. Then the Lord asked: ‘Who are my Mother and my brothers? And looking at them He responded: These are my Mother and my brothers. Whoever fulfills God’s will, He is my brother, my sister, and my mother.”

Yes, brothers and sisters, to believe is to conceive and through obedience to the Word and to the will of God, we become brothers, sisters and above all Mothers of Jesus. The spiritual maternity of Christ occurs when we say like Mary, yes to God, including those moments in which God demands from us that which is humanly possible, like being the Mother of her Son. To become Mothers of Christ we need to make Mary’s prayer our own: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

Yes, every time that a person really decides to change their life, to take away everything out which separates them from god, that impedes them from doing His will and surrenders to Him, then the miracle is produced once again, Jesus enter their soul, gives them His light, His grace and God is born in that heart and that is possible every day, not only in Christmas.

The Lord told His disciples “I have wished to celebrate this Passover with you…this Christmas with you.” Brothers and sisters, the Lord is waiting for us, He awaits our response this Christmas. He wants to be born again in our hearts and like the Virgin teaches us today that is possible when we trust Him and we do His will.

We have a few days left, what will we give Baby Jesus? What would be our best gift? It would be strange to give gifts to everyone except Jesus, the owner of the birthday’s. today the Virgin reminds us: what Jesus, sy son wants the most, the best gift is a simple heart, humble and obedient, like that of His Mother. Yes, the true Christmas is to allow Christ to be born in our lives.

God Bless you.