Anticipation, joy, hope

Fourth Sunday of Advent – Year C

Collect

Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading
Mi 5:1-4a

From you shall come forth the ruler of Israel.

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Micah

Thus says the LORD:
You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah
   too small to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
   one who is to be ruler in Israel;
whose origin is from of old,
   from ancient times.
Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time
   when she who is to give birth has borne,
and the rest of his brethren shall return
   to the children of Israel.
He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock
   by the strength of the LORD,
   in the majestic name of the LORD, his God;
and they shall remain, for now his greatness
   shall reach to the ends of the earth;
   he shall be peace.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19

R. :

℟. (4) Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
   from your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Rouse your power,
   and come to save us.

℟. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

Once again, O LORD of hosts,
   look down from heaven, and see;
take care of this vine,
   and protect what your right hand has planted,
   the son of man whom you yourself made strong.

℟. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

May your help be with the man of your right hand,
   with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
   give us new life, and we will call upon your name.

℟. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

Second Reading
Heb 10:5-10

Behold, I come to do your will.

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews

Brothers and sisters:
When Christ came into the world, he said:
      “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
         but a body you prepared for me;
   in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight.
   Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,
   Behold, I come to do your will, O God.’”

First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings,
   holocausts and sin offerings,
   you neither desired nor delighted in.”
These are offered according to the law.
Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.”
He takes away the first to establish the second.
By this “will,” we have been consecrated
   through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Acclamation before the Gospel
Lk 1:38

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.
Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to be according to your word
℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

Lk 1:39-45

And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

Mary set out
   and traveled to the hill country in haste
   to a town of Judah,
   where she entered the house of Zechariah
   and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
   the infant leaped in her womb,
   and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
   cried out in a loud voice and said,
   “Blessed are you among women,
   and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And 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.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

All reply:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Lectio Divina

In today’s Gospel we have a meeting between four people … yes four: two mothers (Mary and Elizabeth) and two sons (Jesus and John). It is a very anticipated meeting, a meeting of joy, a meeting hoped for. God’s promises were truly being fulfilled, as Zechariah said in his canticle: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people.”

In her journey to visit Elizabeth, Mary was not alone. Within her womb she was carrying the Son of God. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, John leaped in Elizabeth’s womb for joy. Both women were carrying God’s promises. Both women were experiencing in a concrete way the fulfilment of these promises. Both women:

– encountered the Messiah before they even saw him with their own eyes;
– they felt his joy even before they had heard him speak;
– they experienced him intimately even before they had ever met him face to face.

Happy are they who believed that all the Lord had said would be fulfilled!

Advent is a time of anticipation … It is a time in which desires are truly realised, but not in the gifts we give to one another. These do not quench our thirst.

Advent is a time of joy … It is a time in which we experience joy in our innermost being, not externally such as when attending to parties and through beholding festive decorations. Such things create a greater void. 

Advent is a time of hope … It is a time in which what was promised is fulfilled, but not through resolutions that we make for ourselves, because these quickly come to nothing.

Advent is a time of anticipation because our desire to meet the Lord face to face is truly fulfilled when we are selfless in our dealings with others—as Mary did who, although pregnant, went to visit Elizabeth.

Advent is a time of joy because we carry Jesus in our hearts when we receive him in Holy communion—as Mary carried him in her womb.

Advent is a time of hope because God keeps his word with us—as he kept his word with Elizabeth, Mary, and with the Jewish people.

Prayer

Jesus, like Mary on her journey to visit Elizabeth, I also have not seen you face to face. But…

– I desire to see you in my neighbour, especially in those I find it difficult to do so;

– I desire to experience the joy of self-giving to others, especially when I feel useless;

– I desire to experience you with such intimacy that, like Mary, I will allow you to do with me according to your word. Amen.

 

Ara l-Qari tal-Ħdud li għaddew