Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 22, 2024

2024 Dec 22 SUN: FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT (O Rex Gentium) Mi 5: 1-4a/ Ps 80: 2-3. 15-16. 18-19 (4)/ Heb 10: 5-10/ Lk 1: 39-45 You know that for several weeks we have been looking at Scriptures which have to do with what are called the last things. Again, that technical word is eschatology. We've been thinking about the fact that people find something quite emotional in a concept called the end of the world. And we learn to understand that what people call the end of the world is simply the beginning of eternity. And therefore we take comfort in all the things that we are hearing, especially about the definitive, glorious coming of the Son of God when God brings all things to completion and perfection. And we read from the prophet Micah a mention of a place called Bethlehem. In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Bethlehem is noted as the place of the birth of Jesus. And remember that Bethlehem is associated with King David -- that he came from that area. And remember that the genealogy at the beginning of Matthew's gospel traces the lineage -- that is to say the legal fatherhood -- of Jesus, and it goes through David who is looked upon as the ideal king. The letter to the Hebrews speaks to us about the definitive thing that Jesus did in laying down his life. He did the will of his Father. He offered himself for the salvation of all human beings. And as we heard very clearly this morning, he did that once for all of us. And therefore it is not necessary for any of us to do something extraordinary or extravagant in order to get the attention of God the Father so that he might smile on us. That is, all of that is accomplished already. In the Gospel we have two women sharing the favor of God upon them. Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, is the one who brings this child to birth even though she is past the age. Mary is the mother of the Word Made Flesh, the Savior, and in her case she does not know man. So these two women know of God's special favor upon them. God favors us as well. In the case of Elizabeth and Mary, these are things that could not be easily shared really with anybody. And in our case as well, God brings us peace in ways that are hard for us to explain to another person. But as it's been said, each of us has the same secret -- that idea refers initially to the same secret of wondering how inadequate we are. We can also take that phrase, each having the same secret, and apply it to the fact that in various ways, in unique ways, our God signals to us in our daily living that our humanity is blessed. It has been consecrated because we have received the gift of the one who laid down his life so as to conquer death and give us all resurrection and eternal life.