The Lady with the Blackened Feet

4th Sunday In Advent
20 December 2009



Come, let us worship the Lord, the King who is to come.


First reading Micah 5:1-4


The Lord says this:
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
the least of the clans of Judah,
out of you will be born for me
the one who is to rule over Israel;
his origin goes back to the distant past,
to the days of old.
The Lord is therefore going to abandon them
till the time when she who is to give birth gives birth.
Then the remnant of his brothers will come back
to the sons of Israel.
He will stand and feed his flock
with the power of the Lord,
with the majesty of the name of his God.
They will live secure, for from then on he will extend his power
to the ends of the land.
He himself will be peace.

Psalm 79:2-3,15-16,18-19

Second reading Hebrews 10:5-10

This is what Christ said, on coming into the world:
You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation,
prepared a body for me.
You took no pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices for sin;
then I said,
just as I was commanded in the scroll of the book,
‘God, here I am! I am coming to obey your will.’
Notice that he says first: You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the oblations, the holocausts and the sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them; and then he says: Here I am! I am coming to obey your will. He is abolishing the first sort to replace it with the second. And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of his body made once and for all by Jesus Christ.

Gospel Luke 1:39-44

Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’


Reflection
By Jeanne Therese Hilario-Andres

It was on a trip to Asia Minor many years back when I first heard this legend, and since then, it has left a lasting impression on me.

Long ago, in a Turkish city called Efes, there lived a woman fondly nicknamed by the locals as The Lady with the Blackened Feet. She had moved there some years ago with her grown-up, foster son, who had been her only son’s dearest friend until he met a violent death at the prime of his life. Her son’s dying wish had been for his best friend to look after his mother when he was gone. From that time on, her foster son took her on as his own mother, and she adopted him as her own flesh and blood.

Far from being an unkind label, “The Lady with the Blackened Feet” was an affectionate title given to this woman, not mainly as a literal description of the state of her soles, but in reverent appreciation of why her feet were so. It was said that whenever a neighbor of hers fell ill, ran out of food or needed help, she was the first to come running. Cheerfully, serenely, she ran and walked from her tiny house all over the city, comforting the sick and helping the poor. Her feet were almost always black, continually grimy and dusty from running to the aid of anyone who needed help or service. And although she had at first arrived in Efes as a stranger from a far away land, by the time she left this world, she was esteemed and admired in the whole region as a kind and loving woman who always put others’ needs before her own.

Upon reflecting on this story, I now realize how characteristic it was for this woman to do this in her later years, for even in her youth, she had always thought of others first before herself. As a young teenager, betrothed but still unmarried, and suddenly finding that she was with child, she had also learned that her barren, elderly cousin had been blessed by God to conceive a baby, way past childbearing age. I don’t know about you, but if I had been in her shoes, an unplanned and unexpected teenage pregnancy would have probably taken up all of my mind and attention. Who among us in that situation could have focused on anyone or anything else except the baby in one’s womb? The dilemma of telling one’s fiancé that you are having a baby that he did not father? The firm prospect of a humiliating death if your fiancé rejects you? Was there anything more important than these life-or-death concerns? But instead of worrying, planning for the future or doubting the promises of her God, what did this woman do?

She ran. She travelled the two-day journey, in haste, to her elderly cousin who was heavy with child, during the first weeks of her own pregnancy, when a pregnant woman normally takes it easy, avoiding too much legwork or any physically strenuous tasks. Instead of focusing on her own situation and needs, this selfless woman ran without hesitation to her cousin’s side, to visit her, celebrate with her, bring her joy and serve her for the remaining three months of her pregnancy. What insanity. What a mystery.

You know this woman. The name of The Lady with the Blackened Feet is familiar to us all, and it is her loving acceptance of God’s will, her humble, selfless service of others around her, which we remember and try our best to emulate this Advent.
The woman was Mary, the one who believed that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled. The woman was Mary, she who waited on God and served others for love of Him. The woman was Mary, she who ran to help those in need, she with the holy, blackened feet.

Prayer

Dear Lord, Mary said “Yes” and gave her all to You. Help me to imitate her obedience and absolute confidence in Your promises. Like her, may Your love for me overflow from my heart into the hearts of those around me. Cleanse me of self-centeredness and help me to see the needs of others, especially when I become too absorbed in my own concerns. Teach me to serve and to give of myself freely, no matter how little I have, no matter how small my offering may be. Take my hands and take my feet, Lord, and use them fully as Your own. Amen.