December 23, 2018

4th Sunday of Advent C
Micah 5: 1-4; Hebrews 10: 5-10; Luke 1: 39-45
By now, we have been involved in a massive decorating of our homes. More than likely, the
Christmas cards and greetings have been sent. More than likely those of us who are making those
special holiday treats and recipes from ‘ancient times’ are covered with flour and sugar, etc…but
they are true labors of love. Do we have time? Not much…but we enjoy just taking quick moments
to review our love and devotion to Christmas. So the reflection is what is this season all about?
If Mary had said ‘no’ or if Joesph had said ‘no’ the course of history would have been changed. If
the prophets had not been concerned with passing on God’s will to the people, where would we be?
If the people hadn’t remained faithful during all their enslavements in other lands and in the
persecutions that foreign nations inflicted on them, would the outcome have been different? God’s
will did come about…do we express our gratitude for this? So what is God’s will for each of us?
We can learn so much in these special days.
Micah was a prophet about seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth. Like the other prophets, he
challenged the people of his time. This wasn’t an easy task because following the king’s lead, the
people had become complacent in their worship of God. They didn’t care about others and
providing hospitality. They neglected the poor and the hurting, being more concerned with
themselves and what they wanted. God had a plan to heal the nation: from the line of David, God
will raise up a king dedicated to God’s way—what is good and just, caring and loving. Micah tells
that this will originate in Bethlehem which seemed strange since it was “too small to be among the
clans of Judah.” A woman will give birth to a son and through His influence, “…the rest of His kindred
shall return to the children of Israel…He shall be peace.”
Paul tells the Hebrews twice of Jesus’ words, “I come to do Your will, O God.” Paul is showing how
Jesus is quoting the prophecy in Psalm 40: 7-9 explaining God’s will: “Sacrifice and offering You do not
want; but ears open to obedience You gave Me. Holocausts and sin-offering You do not require; so I said,
‘Here I am; Your commands for Me are written in the scroll. To do Your will is My delight, My God, Your law is in
My heart!’” This sacrifice of Jesus surpasses all the sacrifices that were contained in the Old
Testament. Jesus offered Himself “once for all.” The same is true for all of us: God has a plan that we
live God’s will…that we are people who love and care and are conscious of the hurting and the
needy. Is this going to be easy? Sometimes…more often it will be hard because anger and
meanness, selfishness and ‘it’s about me’ lie within us, a remnant of original sin. We have this
constant pull daily but the Holy Spirit continues to fill us with helps to choose the good.
Sunday Homily Helps from Franciscan Media shares four guidelines:
1. “The Ten Commandments tell us how to relate with God and our neighbors
2. The two great commandments show us to: Love the Lord God, Love your neighbor as yourself.
3. In the Eight Beatitudes, Jesus listed moral qualities that mirror God’s qualities: Be pure in
spirit; mourn; be meek; hunger and thirst for righteousness. Be merciful, clean of heart, peacemakers
and be willing to suffer for the kingdom.
4. In Matthew’s Gospel when Jesus talks about the Final Judgement, He tells us to put those ‘being’
qualities into ‘doing’. Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. Welcome strangers. Care for the
sick. Visit prisoners.”
The gospel scene of Mary visiting Elizabeth sets the urgency. Even though Luke did not give any
motive for this visit, it seems very evident that Mary is a woman on a mission. ‘I have to go…I have
to visit…I have to help…I have to share…Whatever the hardships or fears present, I must go.’ Mary
greeted Elizabeth and there is no mention that Elizabeth knew Mary was pregnant. Before Elizabeth
says a word, Luke tells us that she was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the driving
force within each of us all the time. We have a notion that we should go visit someone, and we do.
We give to that beggar on the street. We reach out to the hungry donating to a food pantry. We don’t
do these all the time…but when we are DOERS…when we are GIVERS, something is urging us on.
The Holy Spirit is gracing us to be DOERS of God’s will at that moment. It has nothing to do with
the guilt feeling that we should do this all the time…AT THAT MOMENT, we put ourselves in
second place, and reach out to those in first place. We love…care…share. Each time we do this we
connect to God’s will and a pattern develops, a pattern of love. This is a goal for each of us: to learn
to respond to God’s touches of love to love.
Thomas Merton has a wonderful prayer I say every day…it is a prayer of help to God who loves me
just the way I am now. It is entitled, The Road Ahead:
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I
cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I
think I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that
the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all that I
am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know what if I
do this You will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore
will I trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not
fear, for You are ever with me and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.”
So I reflect on:
• I look back at time when Jesus has visited me in ways I did not expect. Did I see a message in
any of these?
• I look back at what I felt was God’s will for me this Advent and look now on what God did for
me.
• How am I blessed? Am I a blessing for others?
• Why did God fulfill His promise of a savior in Jesus, a teacher who preached compassion and
love, rather than in a warrior king as the Jews anticipated? Could a warrior king have reached
across cultural and political lines the way Jesus did?
• When I feel the ‘urgency’ as Mary did, what enables me to respond positively?
Sacred Space 2019 shares:
“Two women meet, and each has received special blessings and calling from God. Perhaps this is what drew
them together, what made Mary feel an urgency about visiting her cousin. This is but one example of God
showing us how His holy will is accomplished not by a single person but in the context of community.
Have I recently spoken confirmation of another person’s gift or role in a good endeavor? Whom have I called
‘blessed’?”