Homily: Fourth Sunday in Advent
December 22, 2024
My dear brothers and sisters, we are celebrating the Mass of the last Sunday in Advent. The liturgy of the word of today calls us to ardent faith in God. The gospel presents to us the immediate events that preceded the birth of Jesus. These events are mysteries, they tell us the mind of God about the incarnation of Jesus, they unravel the depth of value and importance which the entire hosts of heaven attached to coming of Jesus on earth. These events invite us to a strong faith in God. They make us to ask ourselves the question; do we attach a similar value to the coming of Jesus.
In these events, we could see that Archangel Gabriel, the secretary of the heavenly council was always behind the wheels on transit commuting from Toronto to Ottawa to Vancouver down to Edmonton and touching Winnipeg. The almost endless messages through Archangel Gabriel showed that something extraordinary was about to happen. First, he went to Zechariah where he was ministering at the sanctuary and gave him the news of the conception of his barren wife Elizabeth. Zechariah wanted to doubt the heavenly plans, the archangel struck him deaf and dump temporarily and continued his mission. He went to Mary and delivered to her the message of the taking flesh of Jesus in her womb. Mary accepted the message, submitted herself to the will of the Most High and the joys of the angels in heaven knew no bounds. Joseph became confused about the pregnancy of Mary and Archangel Gabriel was on the roads again to Joseph to give him explicit instructions to protect this lady because she was carrying in her womb the only Son of God.
Mary on her part was filled with joy and awe at the angel’s message and hastened immediately to pay a visit to her cousin Elizabeth. At this meeting, all we could see was the action of the Holy Spirit, the manifestation of the power of God. Elizabeth became filled with the Holy Spirit that she proclaimed to the world that Mary is the Mother of God. Even the little fetus in womb, John the Baptist became filled with grace that He started dancing for joy.
Brothers and sisters, all these mysterious events give us a picture of the mind of God about the coming of Jesus on earth. Our interior disposition to these mysteries and acceptance of them make the whole world of differences towards strengthening our faith. A bowl of candies, cookies, and chocolate can be an apt diet for building the body tissues and cells for a toddler or a child, the same bowl of cookies and candies may be a plate of poison for a diabetic senior. So, the problem is not in the plate of candies and cookies, instead the problem is on the subjective state and internal make-up of the person who devours the plate of candies and cookies.
Why do I say that? Remember the Scribes and Pharisees even Herod the great, knew too well every prophecy about the coming of Jesus. When Herod heard that the king of the Jews was born, he asked the Scribes and the Pharisees and they quoted for him just the first reading of today, that the king would be born in Bethlehem of Judea, for it is has been written by the prophets. Their knowledge of all the prophecies about Him became a poison that helped them to reject and conspire to kill him. The knowledge of the prophecy about Jesus helped Herod to wipe out the holy innocents in the bid to kill Jesus. The Blessed Virgin Mary opened her heart, believed, said yes to God and through these mysteries and prophecies she became blessed for all generations.
Brothers and sisters, these mysteries surrounding the incarnation constitute part of the joyful mystery of the Holy Rosary. We are meant to reflect on them and through these reflections strengthen our faith. Just as we pray to God in the Oremus of the Holy Rosary for us to obtain the abundance of graces these mysteries promise, we are always called to imitate what they contain.
