Follow Mary’s example and draw close to Jesus

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

One of the constant themes of Pope Francis is “closeness.” In practically every communication, whether written in advance or spontaneous, our Holy Father urges us to stay close to God and one another.

Our contemporary culture tends to view God as absent, remote and disconnected from our world and from us. This is not the Christian view. We are Advent people, women and men who await the Blessed Hope every day. We believe that our God draws near to us, that he is closer to us than we are to ourselves.

We consider permanent separation from God (and from one another) as hell, the worst possible situation for anyone. And we believe that God’s grace, his unconditional love freely given, is what keeps us connected to him and to each other.

God’s closeness to us is seen most perfectly in Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus Christ. The Blessed Virgin bore the Son of God in her womb. His humanity was formed from her flesh, from the priestly line that included Elizabeth and Zechariah, and from the heart of Mary’s faith-filled acceptance of God’s will.

Through Mary, God became one of us. He made it possible for us to come close to him, to identify with him and to recognize him as our brother. This is not an absent, remote or disconnected God. This God is one with us and draws us close to him through the intercession of a simple Hebrew woman chosen by God to be his Son’s mother.

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