Homily for 4th Sunday of Advent Year C 2018-2019
Micah 5:1-4; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-44
Introduction
Just two more days to Christmas. But we are still in Advent, the fourth Sunday of Advent. And as is traditional, on this fourth Sunday, the gospel focuses on Mary, the Mother of Jesus. In the first part of Advent heard a lot from John the Baptist the last prophet who prepared the people for the immediate coming of the Messiah. In these last days of Advent, we are given Mary as the person to prepare us for the coming of the Lord, both by her words and by her example.
Scripture and Theology, and Christian Life
Why Mary? Don't we have enough of her throughout the year, for just about every couple of months, we celebrate some major feast of Mary, celebrating some aspect of her role in God's plan of salvation?
- On New Year’s Day we celebrate Mary as Mother of God.
- On March 25 we celebrate the Annunciation of the Angel to Mary.
- In May we celebrate the Visitation and the recently established feast of Mary as Mother of the Church
- August 15th is the Solemnity of her Assumption into heaven, quickly followed by the feast of her birth on September 8th.
- And then of course on December 8th we have the Solemnity of her Immaculate Conception.
But on this Sunday, the Mary we given to us is the Pregnant Mary, one who is depicted in the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, not yet holding the child Jesus in her hands, but having him in her womb! She has something to teach us.
And so, based on today's gospel story, I would like to reflect, not on the Christmas Mary, but on the Advent Mary, the Mary who has just found out that she is pregnant. This Mary can teach us three lessons about the Christian life, especially about waiting for the coming of the Messiah.
We can draw our first lesson from the way Mary waits for the birth of her son. What does she do on receiving the news from the angel, that she is going to be the mother of the Saviour? She does not post the news on Facebook. She does not go around town advertising her great scoop. Nor she does not close herself in the house. She gets on the road to visit her elderly cousin Elizabeth who is also miraculously pregnant with John the Baptist. Consider this: Mary lived in Nazareth in Galilee in the north, while Elizabeth lived in Judah in the south. The gospel passage even told us that she "traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah.” Galilee her home area is flat, just like south Louisiana, but Judah was hilly. Moreover, according to googlemaps the distance between Galilee and Judah is about one hundred miles, and takes about two hours to travel by car today, and about three days on foot, the means of transport Mary probably used. And so, why is Mary making this long and difficult journey?
We know from the cultural norms of the time that younger people usually helped out older relatives. And so Mary went to take care of her older cousin, who was already six months pregnant according to the angel Gabriel. I have never been pregnant, but I understand that especially in the last trimester, pregnant women need some help around the house. That is probably why some mothers today go to help out their pregnant daughters. But here Mary, the younger woman, goes out to help out the older woman. Luke ends this chapter saying “Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.” In other words, Mary stayed until Elizabeth had safely given birth to John. And so, Advent Mary in anticipation of what her son Jesus would do, served rather than be served; she the mother of the Saviour served the mother of the prophet.
The second and third lessons we can draw from Elizabeth's description of Mary as “Blessed.” First, she says of Mary: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. . . .” Elizabeth calls Mary blessed among women because she recognizes the singular choice that God has made of Mary, by choosing her among many possibilities to be the mother of his son, the blessed fruit of her womb. Just think about that for a moment; God has made his choice and that choice is Mary. Some non-Catholics have problems with us Catholics giving Mary special honour, suggesting that she did nothing to deserve it, God just picked her. For me, the clincher is that choice by God. If God himself treated her in a special way, who am I to do differently?
The Advent message of this choice by God is that just like Mary’s singular election for her specific role in God’s plan of salvation, each of us has also been chosen by God for a particular role in his plan of salvation. By virtue of our baptism and confirmation, we are all called to be disciples and apostles of Jesus Christ. And those among us who have received the sacraments of matrimony and holy orders, we have been tasked with serving others in other ways. Even without waiting for Elizabeth to tell us that we too are blessed, Advent Mary reminds each of us that we have a special place in God’s plan of salvation.
Elizabeth then says of Mary: “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” That too is another reason to honour the Blessed Mother. For she actually said “Yes.” She could have said “No” like Jonah the Prophet in the Old Testament did when God sent him on mission. Or she could have received the news reluctantly and with incredulity like Zechariah received the news of John's conception and was punished with temporary muteness. But she responded affirmatively saying: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” For this response Elizabeth highlights Mary’s blessedness.
Again Advent Mary shows us that when we respond to God's call, we too are blessed. Every time we respond to God’s Word we too can be counted blessed. Every time we trust in his promises to us, we too can be counted blessed. Every time we give ourselves completely to him, saying, “Let it be done to me according to your will,” we too can be counted blessed.
Conclusion
How can we practice these three lessons from Advent Mary, not only in the last two days and a half of Advent remaining in preparation for the Lord's birth at Christmas, but as we wait for his Final Coming at the end of time?
First, may our waiting like Mary's always be at the service of others, the Elizabeths of our times, especially those who are more vulnerable than us, be it because of age or some other condition. Perhaps we can look around in our life for someone like Elizabeth, who needs some extra help and make their Christmas a little special. We could pay them a visit, call them on the phone or provide for some of their material needs. And hopefully we would do this throughout the year.
Second, may our waiting always take place in the realization that we too are blessed, simply because God has chosen us to be Christians. Perhaps tonight when you are saying your night prayers, perhaps every night when you say your prayers, you might thank God for choosing you to be his son or daughter, and thank him for the others he placed in your life.
Third, may our waiting always be carried out by responding to God's call to us. Let us not simply ride the coattails of our calling, our blessed state, but also like Mary let us respond to that calling in faith and in action, doing God’s will towards him and towards our neighbour.
We call a pregnant woman an expectant mother. Who better to teach us about expecting, waiting in excitement than the expectant Blessed Mother?
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