Homily 4th Sunday of Advent year B- Homily for 24 December 2023

 

My dear friends today we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year B and the readings build up an anticipation to the revelation of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. In the 1st reading taken from the book of 2nd Samuel, we see two stories running parallel to each other. The first is about the building of the temple for God by David and the second is about the covenantal promise that is made to David by God. God reminds David of his humble origins and God’s decision to elevate David to the throne. The initiative and action were totally of God, not the merit of David. In this narrative, it does appear that the question of the building of temple leads the reader to the real subject - the promises concerning the establishment of David’s house, from which the Messiah will come.

God promises David a dynasty that will last forever. This covenant is known as the Unconditional covenant in contrast to the Conditional or Sinai covenant which applied to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. However, after King Solomon’s death, the kingdom was split into two and eventually both of them would come to an end. One begins to wonder then, what happened to God’s promise of David’s dynasty lasting forever. We find the answer to this in the New Testament, where Jesus, the Son of David, through his resurrection, reigns forever and fulfils the unconditional covenant.

In the second reading taken from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans, St. Paul declares that the mystery, the divine secret which was kept for many centuries, has now been disclosed for all the world to hear. What is this mystery? It is God’s plan of salvation, which involves Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension. The coming of Christ into the world was in fulfilment of the divine purpose. After the creation and the fall, the purpose of God was to bring peace and reconciliation among the people of the world, and Himself. This was eventually fulfilled when God sent his Son — the Son of David, born of Mary — to be the everlasting king, a king whose reign knows no end and no boundaries. Paul highlights the point that it is the Good News of Christ and the salvation that he brings which makes it possible for the Christian to be steadfast.  Jesus is the fullness of revelation. The purpose of this revelation is to bring people to the “obedience of faith.” These verses constitute a doxology—the purpose of which is to give glory to God and the most powerful way to give God glory is by living a Christ-like life. 

In the gospel taken from Luke, we have the popular narrative of the Annunciation. Now there can be a disagreement about who the focus is actually on in this narrative. Is the text focusing on Jesus or is it focusing on Mary? While some scholars say that the focus is on the miraculous birth of Jesus, as we have in some Old Testament narratives of Isaac or Samson, some scholars have noted that this narrative follows the form of an Old Testament call narrative similar to that of Moses and Isaiah suggesting that the focus of this text is actually more on Mary than it is on Jesus. Mary is being called to a prophetic task – giving birth to Jesus, the Messiah.

The angel Gabriel calls Mary, “the favoured one” and one who has “found favour with God” and in the later verses she will be described as “blessed” among women. So what makes Mary so special? Is it because she is going to give birth to Jesus physically? The answer is No, Mary assumes this special role because, in the words of Elizabeth herself “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken by the Lord”. Mary believed in God’s word. We can therefore believe in the fulfilment of God’s word and so share in whatever blessings accrue to Mary if we emulate her.

In the gospel of Luke, Mary is portrayed as the model for Christian discipleship, someone whom all should emulate, especially if we wish to follow her son Jesus.  Is there any similarity between Mary and Jesus? Among many, there is one which shines out - their response to God. Mary’s words “Let it be with me according to your word” are a direct parallel to what Jesus prays in the garden of Gethsemane “Not my will but yours be done”. Both Mary and Jesus respond to God in a spirit of humility, trust and obedient service.  During his public ministry when people praise the one who bore him, Jesus responds by telling them that his mother is blessed, not because her womb bore him or because her breasts nursed him, but because of her devotion and faithfulness to the word of God. Mary is therefore not only the mother of Jesus but a role model for all of us.

As we look forward to the birth of Jesus in a very short time, let us spend some time reflecting on how prepared are we to celebrate his birth. And though we cannot give birth to Jesus physically as Mary did, we can allow him to be born in our hearts. Can we develop the qualities of humility, trust and obedient service to be able to give birth to Jesus in our hearts? Are we ready to cooperate like Mary did with the plan of God for us?  As the season of Advent comes to an end. Let us look back at these 4 weeks, has there been any change in my spiritual and personal life? Has there been any change in my relationships with people? In short, will Jesus find my heart a good place to stay in this Christmas?  Let’s hope he does. May God bless us all.