NOTE: All reflections throughout the Advent and Christmas season will be available on our homepage and then archived on our Advent-Christmas 2025 webpage.
The reflection below is written by Cameron Bellm from this year’s Advent reflection booklet, Entering the night of peace: Reflections for Advent 2025.
By Cameron Bellm
Numbers 6:22-27 | Galatians 4:4-7 | Luke 2:16-21
Getting to know Mary has been one of the great joys of my adult life. But it took time to move forward from the pale, subservient version of Mary I often saw depicted in my childhood, always shown with downcast eyes, presented as a model of quiet obedience. What a delight it has been to become acquainted with a deeper, more accurate Mary, Mary of the Magnificat, Mary of endless courage and strength. This Mary is fiercely loving and fiercely dedicated to justice, fearlessly accepting the call to be part of the work of God, no matter the personal cost. In today’s reading from the Hebrew scripture, we encounter God’s blessing to the Israelites. A blessing. That is what Mary’s example is to us.
In a world in which women are still marginalized and mistreated, we need the reminder of the centrality of Mary in the work of God. As the shepherds pay their visit to the newborn Christ, Mary’s response is quiet yet profound: she keeps these things and ponders them in her heart. Mary is the first to invite us into a faith that is both contemplative and active.
The message that the shepherds hear, calling them to Bethlehem, also beckons us to listen and ponder where we are called to action. The Greek word for that message is not Logos, which we recall from the beginning of John’s gospel, but rema, speech that has been uttered by a living voice, not once and for all, but in an ongoing, everyday manner.
It is a living voice that sets things into motion: God speaking the earth into being, the angels bringing news of new births, Jesus proclaiming the kingdom of God. That living voice is still speaking today, inviting us to co-create a world that reflects the goodness of God, and we are called to participate in this sacred speech that sets love and justice into action. May we listen today, with Mary’s help, for how God is working in us, through us, and with us.
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The above essay by Cameron Bellm delivers a fresh and intelligent look at Mary, a person too often trivialized and appropriated for various agendas by Christian denominations, including Catholicism. After reading the full essay, I could not help but wonder when male-dominated Holy Mother Church will once and for all embrace women fully by making their wisdom and spiritual insights available to all of us through their inclusion in both the diaconate and the priesthood.
David-Ross Gerling, PhD