Today on this fourth Sunday of Advent we begin to experience the quickening pace to the close of the season of Advent with Christmas just a few days away. There are two marvelous phenomena taking place this week that I would like to reflect upon with you. These are the lovely encounter of two immensely graced women we will meet in the gospel story from Luke and the winter solstice that will take place on December 21. Both of these events are grace-filled and part of God’s plan for both creation and salvation.

 

We see in the gospel reading from Luke the majestic and even iconic picture of the encounter of two very faithful and immensely graced women who found themselves at the threshold of the final days of the coming of salvation for all humankind. These two pivotal Biblical players of God’s grace, Elizabeth and Mary, were fully human and like every other woman of faith living in the ancient world. However, there was one major difference between them and all other women of their day -- the unique role God had for them in salvation history. God truly needed their “fiat”, yes, to the invitation he delivered to them asking them to play a vital role in the salvation of all peoples. He would never force them to say yes, but would gently and sweetly invite them to participate in His grand plan for each of them. God highly respects the free will that he has placed in us and will not alter, suppress, or destroy that great and beautiful gift he has given to us. Therefore, God flooded both of these women we see today in Luke’s Gospel with an overabundance of his love and presence, what the Church calls grace, that they could not do any other thing but say yes to his will for their lives. Thus, they were part of God’s plan from the beginning of the cosmos for the salvation of all he had created. His work would not stop with them alone, for he would want, and needed, their “fiat” to bring forth their sons, Jesus and John, onto the scene who would fulfill God’s great plan of salvation.

 

The predominant figure in the gospel for today is Mary, the mother of Jesus the Christ. The Gospel reading from Luke that precedes this Sunday’s gospel account focuses upon the story of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38). We see in that story how God through the Archangel Gabriel invites Mary to be the mother of the Christ child. Mary says yes to that invitation and immediately the Spirit overshadowed her enabling her to become pregnant with the Word of God, Jesus. The Archangel tells Mary that her “kinswoman Elizabeth” is in her six month of her pregnancy with her own child. Mary is greatly surprised and pleased by that revelation and asks, “how can this be”. Gabriel will respond by saying, “nothing is impossible with God”. Mary does not stay in Nazareth reflecting upon all that had just happened to her, rather she immediately left her parents’ home and traveled to be with Elizabeth until the birth of Elizabeth’s child, John. Such a trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem where Elizabeth and her family lived, around 64 miles, would be hazardous for anyone to take at that time whether alone or in a group setting especially for a woman. However, such a journey was not a concern of hers for she was filled with grace and she trusted in God’s protection as she traveled. For a person of faith, it was not surprising at all to see Mary rush off to Jerusalem to serve the needs of Elizabeth in her old age. Mary is the model of what all disciples are called to be in loving God and others. That is precisely who God calls all of us to be, a reflection of himself for the world to see through our actions the caring for others in need.

 

The other great act of God taking place in the days prior to Christmas is the winter solstice on December 21. That date takes place every December. This is when the earth’s axis or angle to the sun has moved over a six-month period, June 20/21 to December 20/21, decreasing the amount of sunlight that the Northern Hemisphere (our part of the world) receives each day until it reaches its apex next Tuesday. On that day, December 21, there will be the shortest amount of daylight we will experience in the northerly movement in relation to our sun over a six-month period. According to Wikipedia sunrise that day for us in Louisville will take place at 7:59am with sunset occurring at 5:25pm. We will only have nine and a half hours of indirect light that day. We will not be able to perceive a very small sliver of an increase of daylight until around the third or fourth week of January. This process of the earth’s axis moving back and forth from north to south and returning back again, which has happened for 4.5 billion years, governs both hemispheres to have an equal amount of sunlight & heat along with darkness & cold for the proper orderly function of life for our planet.

 

 

The readings of Advent’s Fourth Sunday lead one down the path of messianic expectation to the long-hoped-for arrival. The eighth century BCE prophet Micah speaks God’s word of a ruler who is both Shepherd and a majestic Name, bringing peace and greatness to his people. However, the catch is that he will come forth from the tiny hamlet of Bethlehem, unexpected in every way. In his context, Micah is speaking to the threat of Assyria that will wipe out the Northern Kingdom, from which Judah was spared. In our time, these words translate to an openness to God and how God might work in our world and our lives, counter to society’s expectations of who we should be. The guiding hand of God, the psalmist proclaims, is always at work for the good of creation, often despite human plans. The New Testament readings further articulate God’s will to work in the world, often way beyond the wildest hopes and dreams of human expectations. The letter to the Hebrews puts forth the atoning sacrifice of “the offering of the body of Jesus Christ” (10:10) in just this manner. Keeping hold to a ritual is not enough if it is empty of heartfelt desire for change and authenticity in one’s life or in the corporate, or wider spectrum of the faithful life of the Church. This is as true today as it was in the first century. God’s gift of His son Jesus, the Christ, to the world in his person and ministry, as well as his atoning sacrifice, was far beyond what the people expected but was precisely what the world has so desperately needed then and now. “Luke’s Gospel presents the encounter between two faithful women who show themselves open to God working both in the world and in their lives in just such profoundly unexpected ways. As they come together in support of one another, they realize the depth and breadth of God’s plan and how they are called beyond both their comfort and society’s role for them.”

 

Mary’s Canticle (Luke 1:46-55)

 

This hymn, or canticle, was sung by Mary upon her visitation to Elizabeth. As Mary arrived at Elizabeth’s home the child in her womb leapt for joy in recognition of who Mary was -- the newly pregnant mother of Jesus. Elizabeth praised Mary for her courage and faith in traveling so far to be with her in the final months of her pregnancy. Mary’s response to that praise from her cousin is her song to God found here.

 

“My being proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit finds joy in God my savior. For he has looked upon his servant in her lowliness; all ages to come shall call me blessed. God who is mighty has done great things for me, holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age on those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, he has confused the proud in their inmost thoughts. He has deposed the mighty from their thrones and raised the lowly to high places.

The hungry he has given every good thing, while the rich he has sent empty away. He has upheld Israel his servant, ever mindful of his mercy, even as he promised our fathers, promised Abraham and his descendants forever.”

 

 

Written by Bob Sugrue