Fourth Sunday of Advent ~ December 19, 2021

“O Shepherd of Israel, hearken, from Your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth. Rouse Your power, and come to save us.” (Psalm 80:2-3)

Reflections on the readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent (December 19, 2021): MI 5:1-4; PS 80:2-3,15-16,18-19; HEB 10:5-10; LK 1:39-45

MISSIO offers “Preaching Mission,” as a homily help, providing connections to mission from the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days. 

As we enter the final days of Advent, we anticipate the celebration of our Lord’s nativity.      

As we enter the final days of Advent, we anticipate the celebration of our Lord’s nativity. We recall all we have learned in the Gospel readings from St. John the Baptist’s preaching about the coming of the Messiah. And we remember how he humbly pointed the way to Jesus. John did not want his followers to believe that he was the Messiah long expected by the Jewish people. In today’s Gospel we hear from his mother St. Elizabeth. She is also humble. With awe she wonders how God could choose her to be in the presence of Mary, blessed among women, and her most holy Son. “How does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Luke 1:43-45). 

We know that the Blessed Virgin Mary went to visit Elizabeth as soon as she heard that her cousin was also with child. While we cannot know what was in Mary’s mind, it seems likely that she wanted to speak with someone who could understand at least some of what she was experiencing. And the two of them could pray and praise God together because each had been selected by Almighty God to bear a unique child in a unique way. The Virgin Mary bore Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth had long been considered barren and was past the age when pregnancy seemed possible. While her husband Zechariah was indeed John’s father, it was still an exceptional situation. So when, in her loving-kindness, Mary traveled from Nazareth to their home the hill country, she was also able to offer practical help to her older relative at this extraordinary time. And because she did so according to God’s plan, John was filled with the Holy Spirit in the presence of Jesus. These two women, one young, one old, both poor and, in the eyes of most people barely worth noticing, cooperated completely with divine grace. Body and soul, mind and heart, they showed themselves faithful daughters of the Almighty. They did exactly what He wants from each of us, to say “Yes!” to His will for us whatever it may be.