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Yes, Lord

22/12/2023

A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, December 24th, 2023:
Fourth Sunday of Advent

Luke
1.26-38

The Angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

The Angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.

“He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Mary said to the Angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The Angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.

“And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” Then the Angel departed from her.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Have you ever considered the gravity of Mary’s “yes”?

She was a young woman, likely 13 or 14 years old, engaged to be married but not yet united with her husband. To be found unwed and pregnant in a society built upon the Jewish law was no small matter. The punishment would have undoubtedly been death. Mary had every reason to believe that, even if Joseph believed that this was the child of God, the rest of her community would not believe her. Her loose-fitting clothing would discreetly hide her pregnancy until it could not any more, and word would get out, and she would be brought into the streets one day and stoned to death.

Her “yes” was truly the giving up of her life.

So what did God do with a “yes” this profound, this complete?

Carol Houselander has a marvelous book, The Reed of God, where she says this:

“In this great fiat (yes) of the little girl Mary, the strength and foundation of our life of contemplation is grounded, for it means absolute trust in God, trust which will not set us free from suffering, but will set us free from anxiety, hesitation, and above all from the fear of suffering. Trust which makes us willing to be what God wants us to be, however great or however little that may prove. Trust which accepts God as illimitable Love.”

When we trust and love that deeply, we are well disposed to receive. And what Our Lady received at such a young age, with a heart bursting with trust, was salvation for the whole world. The infinite gap between the holy and immortal God and sinful man was finally bridged in the Person of Jesus Christ. The age-old question, how can man reach God, was answered once and for all: God came to us, all because a child said yes.

Imagine what your life would look like if you loved God like that. What if your fear of suffering didn’t incapacitate you? What could God do with your life if you weren't a slave to your hesitations and anxieties, if His love made you free?

The mystery of the Incarnation is enormous. And the mystery that was revealed today, on Christmas Eve, was born on the night of Mary’s “yes.”

Let us pray: Yes, Lord. Let it be done to me according to Your Word.

Becca O'Hara

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The Weight of Glory

21/12/2023

5 Comments

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, December 24th, 2023:
Fourth Sunday of Advent

Romans
16.25-27

Brothers and sisters: To the One who is able to strengthen you according to my Gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith — to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

We’ve made it through Advent. By the time you hear this letter from Paul to the Romans proclaimed from the front of the church, you will be in the final hours of waiting. Unlike most other years, this year Christmas Eve falls on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. A stark reminder of how fleeting and yet endless time is. The waiting felt interminable, yet the final week of Advent comes and goes in 24 hours.

The earthly life of Christ is like that too – a finite, known number of years. Such a short time, especially when compared to the biblical patriarch Methuselah, who lived to 969 according to Genesis 5:27 – nearly 30 times longer than Jesus did in His earthly ministry. The gap between the last Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve this year is a blink of an eye, and yet still full of meaning.

But those 33 years were infused with tremendous purpose. Every moment of His earthly life was heavily laden with meaning. Human flesh, incomprehensibly full of God, containing in every cell the weight of glory. That same fullness of God and His glory in the womb, in the manger, on the cross and every moment in between. Jesus’ very presence preached from the womb. There was no time to waste. Time was short and there was so much to be accomplished.

As I stumble into middle age, I sometimes wonder at how adept I have been at putting off the work of God. I need to wait until the kids are bigger to focus on my relationship with God. I need to wait until my career is more settled to focus more on my prayer life. I need to wait until I’m retired to get back into ministry. The way I’m going, I will need to live as long as Methuselah to get to the work and mission God has set before me.

Jesus’ 33 years are a stark reminder that no one is promised old age. No one is promised time to wander before they reach their destination. Jesus is coming. Not just for the world, but for me as an individual. He knows the number of my days. His Spirit is working on me constantly, reminding me to not take my life for granted.

Even if I live 107 years, I can’t keep putting off being for God. I want, as Jesus did, to use every day given to me to participate in God’s plan for me and for the world. I have no time to waste. From womb to grave, there is still so much to be accomplished.

Stéphanie Potter

5 Comments

Make a Joyful Noise

20/12/2023

2 Comments

A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, December 24th, 2023:
Fourth Sunday of Advent

Psalm 89

R. Forever I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord.

I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.

R. Forever I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord.

I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.

R. Forever I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord.

You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to my servant David: I will establish your descendants forever, and build your throne for all generations.”

R. Forever I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord.

He shall cry to me, “You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation!” Forever I will keep my steadfast love for him, and my covenant with him will stand firm.

R. Forever I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

With the fourth Sunday of Advent sharing a date with Christmas Eve this year, please forgive me for skipping ahead to the manger. Let’s be honest – we’re ready for this baby to be born.

This psalm is a song about singing. When we sing (even badly) we can express a joy, joy, joy, joy down in our hearts that mere speaking cannot produce. Appropriately enough, on Christmas Eve, Christians all over the world gather in churches and town squares just to sing. Is there any occasion for strangers to deliberately come together to sing beloved songs other than a good ol’ fashioned carol-sing? (Answering my own question, I thought of programs for seniors where musicians will sing songs from their youth. I defy you to find a more joyful heart than an octogenarian belting out Presley hits. Just sayin’.)

In another psalm, we are exhorted not just to sing any song, but to “sing a new song.” And God’s faithful have waited, unknowingly, for the birth of a child in Bethlehem to sing their new song. Because to sing a new song, we have to be the new man. And the new man came at Christmas.

“The old man has an old song, the new man a new song,” said Saint Augustine. “The Old Testament is an old song, the New Testament a new song.”

So then, what was the first new song?

We know the angels rang out their Glorias – but the celestial choirs have sung His praises for all eternity. Theirs isn’t a new hymn. They are not the new man.

The first song of the new man had to be sung by a man – or rather, I posit, a woman.

The first new song, the first song of the new and eternal covenant, was a lullaby.

We know Mary sang, as she sings her timeless Magnificat. Saint Augustine said there are three criteria for a hymn: singing, singing praise, and singing praise to God. I imagine Mary, wrapped in blankets with the bundled up infant Jesus on her lap, singing the first century Aramaic equivalent to “You Are My Sunshine.” And lo, the first hymn, the first new song of the new covenant, is sung by the new humanity.

Join in the Alleluias and Glorias and Fa-la-la-la-las this weekend. As Saint Augustine said, “Love itself is new and eternal; therefore is it ever new, because it never grows old.... And this song is of peace, this song is of charity.” And as Bert and Ernie say, “Don’t worry that it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear. Just sing. Sing a song.”

Kate Mosher

2 Comments

Promises, Promises

19/12/2023

3 Comments

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, December 24th, 2023:
Fourth Sunday of Advent

2 Samuel
7.1-5, 8-12, 14, 16

Now when David, the king, was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the Prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind, for the Lord is with you.”

But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: “Go and tell my servant David: ‘Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel: and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.

“And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies.

“Moreover the Lord declares to you, David, that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

“I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne, David, shall be established forever.’”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

In the first reading we hear of King David and his desire to build a permanent home for the Lord – this will eventually be the temple in Jerusalem. In our day and age of homes and churches and other permanent structures, this seems like a straightforward plan. But at the time of David, that wasn’t necessarily the norm. It would seem as if you were limiting God to THAT place.
In pagan religions of the time, you worshipped the local god. If you moved, you worshipped the one in the new place. So at first sight, David could be seen as tying God down – but we know that wasn’t his intention.

As I read this scripture I am reminded once again how my ways are not necessarily God’s ways. I cannot count the number of times in my life when I had what I considered an amazing idea, only to see later that it was a terrible idea – or at the very least, not nearly as amazing as God’s plan!

A dear priest, Fr. Roberto, used to say “Isn’t it interesting how when most people discern God’s will, it is usually the thing that person likes best?” Do I ever stop to see if perhaps that challenging thing in my life, or the thing that is different than what I am used to, is where God is calling me? The very thing David desired to do looked like a good thing coming from a good place – and yet it wasn’t God’s will. And, therefore, it was not the good thing it seemed.

Doing God's will isn’t always easy or comfortable but it is good because God is good. What does that mean for the reading? When I pray for God’s guidance or direction I need to remember that sometimes His answer isn’t “Yes” or “No” – it might be “Not yet.”

God intended for the temple to be built, just not on David’s timeline. Rather, He meant it to happen on God’s timeline.

Sister Teresa MacDonald

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Yes, Lord

​A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, December 24th, 2023:Fourth Sunday of Advent

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

The Weight of Glory

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, December 24th, 2023:Fourth Sunday of Advent

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Make a Joyful Noise

A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, December 24th, 2023:Fourth Sunday of Advent

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Promises, Promises

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, December 24th, 2023:Fourth Sunday of Advent

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Archives

A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, December 24th, 2023:
Fourth Sunday of Advent

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, December 24th, 2023:
Fourth Sunday of Advent

A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, December 24th, 2023:
Fourth Sunday of Advent

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, December 24th, 2023:
Fourth Sunday of Advent