Sunday December 19 2021. Fourth Sunday in Advent
Sunday, December 19 2021
Fourth Sunday of Advent
1st Reading: Micah 5:2-5
Salvation would come from insignificant Bethlehem — to unite the nation under God
The Lord says this: But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labour has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, and he shall be the one of peace.
Responsorial: Psalm 79: 2-3, 15-16, 18-19
R./: Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hear us,
shine forth from your cherubim throne.
O Lord, rouse up your might,
O Lord, come to our help. (R./)
God of hosts, turn again, we implore,
look down from heaven and see.
Visit this vine and protect it,
the vine your right hand has planted. (R./)
May your hand be on the man you have chosen,
the man you have given your strength.
And we shall never forsake you again:
give us life that we may call upon your name. (R./)
2nd Reading: Hebrews 10:5-10
Only Christ, our supreme High Priest, can effect reconciliation between us and God
Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’ (in the scroll of the book it is written of me).”
When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Gospel: Luke 1:39-44
Elizabeth recognises the unique child that Mary carries within her
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.
Holding our breath
The readings invite a final pause, one further holding of the breath, before the birth of Jesus. The Visitation, in particular, with its explicit and implied encounter(s), may help us reflect on all the encounters of this season, not forgetting “the” encounter to which we are all invited.
Honouring the Madonna
When a mother is expecting, all the focus is on her health. She gets loads of advice — ‘be careful,’ ‘don’t lift that’ and ‘don’t forget your afternoon nap.’ Once the baby is born the main attention moves to the baby — ‘who does she look like?’ ‘what name will you give him?’ …and so on. So on this last Sunday before Christmas the Gospel is focussed on Mary, the expectant mother, and in particular, on her visit to her cousin, Elizabeth.
One could say that Mary is even more honoured in the Eastern Church than she is in the West. In the West, after the 16th century reformation, many Protestants stopped honouring Mary. Many shrines were levelled, stained glass windows were broken, statues of Mary shattered, pictures of the Madonna burnt. Still, not all Protestants disowned Mary. A frequently quoted line about her is where William Wordsworth refers to her as ‘our tainted nature’s solitary boast.’ Martin Luther had a lifelong devotion to Mary and even kept a picture of her on his desk, though many Lutherans seem unaware of this.
All Christians, whether Catholic or Protestant, like to meditate on the Magnificat, that prayerful song brimming over with anger at the way the world is tilted against the poor. It is Mary’s cry for justice: He has filled the hungry with good things/ And sent the rich away empty. This is Mary who inspires all followers of her son to challenge injustice also in our own time and place.
Two great women
The two pregnant women in our Gospel today are different in age, yet both full of joy and concern for each other. Mary goes to visit Elizabeth because of the dangers attendant on so late a pregnancy. That she went with hasted, halfway across the country, to make the visit is a clear sign of Mary’s generosity and goodness. Through the light of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth recognised Mary’s privilege as the mother of the longed-for Messiah. She greets Mary in the words we are so familiar with in our Hail Mary. And Mary responds in the equally familiar words of the Magnificat. These two great women understand the miracle of conception and birth. But in each case there was divine intervention in a truly exceptional way. The Gospel says that both were informed of this fact by the words of an angel; they each had a message from God telling them so.
The fact that these two women had this divine intervention is a reminder that our own lives too are a gift of God; what we might call ordinary grace. It is from this understanding that the Church takes its position on all life issues.
At some moments we may recognise the hand of God in our lives. Maybe at the point when we felt we had a priestly or religious vocation or when we finally decided on our partner in marriage. Maybe it was at the birth of a child, a change in job circumstances, or the death of a parent. Maybe it was a moment in prayer, the grace of a sacrament, advice in the confessional, wise words from a friend or relative at a critical moment.
God continues to work with us and for us. God takes the long view and there are periods of seeming barrenness, seeming aloneness. But these are all part of that gestation which is life on earth. We were born into this world and we will be reborn into eternal life.
Every now and then like John the Baptist we leap in this womb which is our life on earth. Every now and then we recognise God’s presence, as John recognised Jesus’ presence, and we leap with joy. But life is always moving on and God is always with us. It was God caused us to come into being, who sustains and feeds us, and who will welcome us into life eternal. As well as the birth of Jesus, we celebrate our own birth too at Christmas — a birth, a life that flows towards death and final resurrection.
Readings: Fourth Sunday of Advent…
Key Message:
When Mamma Mary comes into our house, our whole family will jump out of joy!!
Homily:
The takeaway from the first reading:
The prophet Micah says that “O Bethlehem, you are not less. Because from you shall come forth the Messiah of the world”. As Christians, we all have Christ Jesus within us. Our God happily resides within us. Hence we are the new Bethlehem!!
I would like to explain one more takeaway: “He (our Lord Jesus) shall be the one of peace”. Now we all have Lord Jesus Christ so we all will have inherent peace within us. The previous verse says that we will live secure because of our Lord Jesus. When we trust in our Lord Jesus, whatever problems we have, we will not get frustrated because we know that our Lord Jesus will be there to take care of us. In the Old Testament, Joseph went to prison based on false accusations, Daniel went to the lion’s den because of false accusations. They were not stopped from going there but they were celebrated after coming out of prison or lion’s den. The most important thing is that they never lost their peace when in prison or in the lion’s den. They trusted in God to make something good come out of the injustice happening to them. And God used the same unjust experiences to elevate them.
Hence, when we face critical or unjust situations in our life, let us not lose our peace. Let us laugh at them. When people are accusing us unjustly instead of arguing or fighting back, keep smiling at them. Anyway, they will not get convinced with our words. In order to win an argument, some people will not accept their wrong, even though they understand it in their hearts. Arguing with them is useless. So let us not get involved in unnecessary arguments but believe in God to be our vindicator.
God always gives a celebration after a challenge!!
The takeaway from the second reading:
God does not desire burnt offering and sin offering. In the Old Testament, there were rules on how to give offerings for every sin. People had to follow lots of rules because at that point in time there was no Saviour to redeem from their sins. Now our Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself as a sin offering for people of all ages. Is there a limit to our happiness that one person (our Lord Jesus) has already paid for all our sins in total? When we ask forgiveness of our Lord Jesus, all our sins will be washed away. There is no need for any offering for any type of sin!!
The takeaway from the Gospel reading:
Have we noticed that whenever Mamma Mary enters a home, people are happy!! Mamma Mary was invited to the wedding feast of Cana. She turned the scarcity situation into abundance. Mamma Mary’s abundance of faith in Jesus covered the scarcity of faith of the marriage host. The marriage host could not have known the power of our Lord Jesus because our Lord had not yet started His ministry. Our Lord was humble to hold to His identity as the son of a carpenter and working mainly as a carpenter. Probably the tables and chairs made by our Lord were used for the wedding function… So the marriage host did not have enough faith in our Lord Jesus to tell Him of his requirements and get His blessings. But knowing the kind and loving heart of Mamma Mary, the host entrusted the issue to Mamma Mary. That was all!! The water turned into wine and scarcity into abundance!!
Mamma Mary, on learning from the angel Gabriel, hurriedly went to visit her elderly cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth loved Mamma Mary and Mamma Mary knew that her presence would make Elizabeth more joyous and happy. As soon as Elizabeth heard Mamma Mary’s greeting, the child in her womb jumped, out of joy. We really wonder why some people do not want to enjoy the blessings of Mamma Mary when a child in the womb itself is jumping out of joy!!
Tips for doing the takeaways:
1. The Rosary is a wonder-working prayer to Mamma Mary where we offer repeated praises and prayer intercessions to Her. Mother Teresa of Calcutta and all the Missionaries of Charity keep reciting the rosary whenever they travel. The travel can be by foot or by any transport vehicle. When you ask them how far away the location is, their simple answer will be two rosaries away or three rosaries away. Since they carry the rosary everywhere, Mother Mary blesses their work. We can also make the “Holy Rosary” our travel companion.
We can also make Mother Mary our gym companion. Instead of counting to 1 to 10 during our workout, we can also recite “Hail Mary” or we can just say “One Ave Maria”, “Two Ave Maria” till “Twelve Ave Maria”. We are working out both our physical and spiritual muscles.
2. People of today often feel it is boring to offer repeated prayers. Since the mind is tuned to witness changes always, anything that does not change bores them. So people say that they are not able to feel the presence of God or Mamma Mary when they say the “Holy Rosary”. Here are some practical tips to overcome this.
2.1 Meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary. For example, when praying on the “Nativity” decade, remember how Mamma Mary would have prepared for Her Son Jesus and fed Him. How much our Lord Jesus would have enjoyed the taste of Mamma Mary’s cooking. She would have certainly known the likes of our Lord Jesus on earth. How carefully Saint Joseph would have taught His Son Jesus to make wooden furniture. When we meditate (happily think) about these things when praying the Rosary, we can see God will also happily share His inputs on His beautiful life on earth. God will also show us answers for our problems and will enlighten us on the next steps we should take to move forward.
2.2 Listening to the Holy Rosary as a song and meditating on it.
2.3 Reciting the Holy Rosary just before starting our work. If we are not able to meditate and we are facing a time crunch, then we can pray just before starting our official work. Since already we are facing a time crunch, our thoughts will be focused and we will be able to recite the “Holy Rosary” fruitfully.
3. In Mamma Mary there is a beautiful motherly love that we cannot get anywhere else. Since Mamma Mary is the mother of the whole world, we all have mothers. There is no one who does not have a mother. The mantle of Mamma Mary gives us so much solace, that in every situation we can receive comfort. So let us not worry but look up at our Mamma’s face with hope. The bigger the trials, the more help we will get from our Mamma Mary. Like little children running to their Mamma, let us run to our Mamma Mary and hide under Her mantle.
When a child in the womb jumps, out of joy, why can’t we enjoy the presence of Mamma Mary?
Readings, Sunday Dec 19th…
The most beautiful part of the New Testament is Luke’s Infancy Narrative, which is like an enclosed garden, populated only by beautiful people. Luke, after his opening statement of purpose, which is considered the most perfect Greek sentence in the New Testament, dips his pen in the style of the Septuagint to paint a model Jewish world, describing the Baptist’s parents as ‘both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and regulations of the Lord, blameless’ (Lk 1:6). The old couple are depicted with much humour. Then after the sublime scene of the Annunciation, Mary sets off eagerly to share her good news with Elizabeth (1:39) and their meeting is a moment of utter joy, yielding those words of Elizabeth that we recite every day: “Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (1:42). Not without humour is the image of John the Baptist bouncing joyfully in her womb (44); reverence would have held Luke back from giving a similar account of Jesus.
This scene of the Visitation inspired Sts Francis de Sales and Jeanne de Chantal to found a religious order, the Visitandines, who were supposed to visit the poor on charitable errands, but became an enclosed contemplative order. They would perpetuate this short biblical scene, letting it shape their whole existence. Let us enter into that scene this morning, thinking of Mary, her haste to be with her kinswoman and to help her, staying with her till the birth; thinking of Elizabeth, her deep gratitude to God for granting her a son, like Sarah of old; her prophetic insight, like that of Simeon and Anna further on, she being filled with the Holy Spirit; her sense of family bonds, as wife, mother, cousin to Mary, aunt to Jesus; her noble heritage as a daughter of Aaron (1:5); her patient endurance and resignation in the long years of sterility; here forthrightness of character and speech, shown again when she insists against family tradition that her son’s name will be John (as the angel prescribed, 1:13). John is Hebrew Yohanan, meaning ‘graced by God.’ Grace pervades the scene of the Visitation and all the scenes of the Infancy Narrative, grace abounding blissfully, unalloyed, unshadowed, as nowhere else in Scripture.
Think also of the contemplative peace and calm that emanates from this story, the deep and quiet love of God that eventually bursts forth in the canticles of Mary and Zechariah. Queen Elizabeth was worthy of her patron saint when she said recently to the bishops of the church of which she is Supreme Governor: “The list of tasks facing that first General Synod may sound familiar to many of you – Christian education, Christian unity, the better distribution of the ordained ministry. … But one stands out supreme: ‘To bring the people of this country to the knowledge and the love of God.’”
Harmony of charitable action and serene contemplation is set forth in exemplary form in these Jewish women so masterfully painted by St Luke (said to have been a painter, with a portrait of Mary that circulated in later times). They are the first in a long string of women who grace his Gospel and set it off from the others. All contemplatives tell us that to enjoy the knowledge and love of God we must awaken the feminine depths of our soul, something rather countercultural, but Christmas is the time for it.
On 2 July 1660, Bossuet preached on the Visitation before another English queen, Henrietta Maria (Henrette-Marie, 1609-1669), daughter of Henri IV, widow of Charles I and mother of the Restoration monarchs Charles II and James II. She had a troubled life, father assassinated, husband decapitated, and her militant Catholic faith putting her at odds with Britons. Bossuet speaks of ‘a hidden God, whose virtue acts in hearts in a secret and impenetrable way. I see four persons united in the mystery we honour: Jesus and the divine Mary, St. John and his mother St. Elizabeth; this is the whole subject of our Gospel. But what I find most remarkable is that, except for the Son of God, all these sacred persons visibly exercise some particular action. Elizabeth, enlightened from above, recognizes the dignity of the Blessed Virgin, and humbles herself deeply before her: Undè hoc mihi? John feels the presence of his divine Master even in his mother’s womb, and testifies with incredible transports: Exultavit infans. However, the happy Mary, admiring in herself such great effects of the divine omnipotence, exalts with all her heart the holy name of God and publishes his munificence. Thus all these persons act, and it is only Jesus who seems immobile: hidden in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, he makes no movement that makes his presence perceptible; and he who is the soul of the whole mystery, appears without action in the whole mystery.’
[DeepL translation of: ‘un Dieu caché, dont la vertu agit dans les cœurs d’une manière secrète et impénétrable. Je vois quatre personnes unies dans le mystère que nous honorons: Jésus et la divine Marie, saint Jean et sa mère sainte Elisabeth; c’est ce qui fait tout le sujet de notre évangile. Mais ce que j’y trouve de plus remarquable, c’est qu’à la réserve du Fils de Dieu toutes ces personnes sacrées y exercent visiblement quelque action particulière. Elisabeth éclairée d’en haut reconnait la dignité de la sainte Vierge, et s’humilie profondément devant elle : Undè hoc mihi? Jean sent la présence de son divin Maître jusque dans le sein de sa mère, et témoigne des transports incroyables: Exultavit infans. Cependant l’heureuse Marie admirant en elle-même de si grands effets de la toute-puissance divine, exalte de tout son cœur le saint nom de Dieu et publie sa munificence. Ainsi toutes ces personnes agissent, et il n’y a que Jésus qui semble immobile : caché dans les entrailles de la sainte Vierge, il ne fait aucun mouvement qui rende sa présence sensible; et lui qui est l’âme de tout le mystère, paraît sans action dans tout le mystère.]
Sunday December 19th.
“…..to enjoy the knowledge and love of God we must awaken the feminine depths of our soul, something rather countercultural, but Christmas is the time for it.”
That is a lovely thought, Joe. Thank you. And, a Happy, Healthy Christmas to you and every good wish for 2022.