December 23^rd 2018.  Fourth Sunday of Advent

GOSPEL: Luke 1, 39-45

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

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GOSPEL: Luke 1, 39-45

Mary set out
and travelled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah, 
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb, 
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, 
cried out in a loud voice and said, 
"Blessed are you among women, 
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me, 
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, 
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled."

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . On this fourth Sunday of Advent, Don Fabio gives a beautiful reflection on the exchange between Elizabeth and Mary. Elizabeth says, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. . . For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled." These words are also for each one of us. The Lord has spoken to us all in many and various ways throughout our lives. There are moments for all of us when we felt the presence of God, his mercy, his patience. We have all felt wonder at his creation and his being. There is a room in our hearts that has been visited by God alone at some point in our lives, perhaps very often. Like Mary, we must believe in this word that the Lord has spoken to our hearts! And like Mary, if we believe in the word that the Lord has spoken to us, then our lives will become fruitful! It is important that our lives be fruitful, be of service. Otherwise we feel empty. The Lord has created each one of us to be fruitful. He has spoken a word to our hearts. If we can believe in this word, then we will give rise to a blessed, life-giving fruit, as Mary did.

Mary is blessed because she believed the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord is not empty! It gives rise to blessed fruit once it is believed.

On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we hear the exchange of words when Mary visits Elizabeth. Mary goes “in haste” to see her cousin. The Greek word in the original text signifies to go “with zeal”, “with desire”. We see here an action that is done with care and with joy. When Elizabeth hears the greeting of Mary, the child leaps in her womb. She says, “As soon as your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy”. And then she finishes with this marvellous phrase, “Blessed is she who believed that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled”. Mary is blessed because she believed that the word of the Lord was not empty.

The word of the Lord is not an idea or an abstraction. It has power. But it must be believed.

The words of the Lord, the sacraments we receive, are not just ideas, or values or abstractions. No! They have power; they bring to fulfilment. He or she who believes the word of the Lord, will see the fulfilment of this word. Often we carry in our hearts the beautiful words that the Lord has spoken to us, and the challenge is to believe in their power. How many times we find ourselves at crossroads in our lives, and what we need to do is believe in what the Lord has communicated to us. Each one of us had had moments in our lives, or perhaps many such moments, when we have felt the Lord close to us. Even those who call themselves atheists have had such moments. We feel the profound beauty of life and the wonder of a God who cares for us. We sense his patience, his mercy. Like the child who leaps in Elizabeth’s womb, we too at various times have felt the new life springing up within us.

Some fruits are blessed but some are not blessed and do not bring life

“Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb”. The call to be a woman and the call to be blessed is the call of the entire Church. What is fulfilled in Mary is to be fulfilled in the Church as a whole. The Church is to be blessed in favour of all humanity. This does not mean to be superior in any way, because everything is by grace. But it signifies to be in the world and to be blessed because we have believed in the word that the Lord has communicated to us. And through this to bear fruit. Our lives have a great need to be fruitful. We have a need to be useful, to produce a fruit that is blessed. Life is like a seed. It is born in order to be fruitful. But there are fruits which are blessed and those which are not blessed. We do not judge a tree by the colour of its bark but by the taste of its fruit. Often we think something is beautiful because we are struck by its appearance, even though its fruit may not be wholesome. To see what a blessed fruit is, let us look to Mary! She gave birth to the blessed fruit of her womb and she is a school for us on how to be fruitful ourselves. We must be courageous and single-minded as she was. If we see that our acts are not bearing fruit, are not giving rise to new life, then let us change. Let the prophet inside us, the young John the Baptist, decide if we are doing something worthwhile or not. Our hearts have a room inside them that is reserved exclusively to God. In that room which only God can visit, He deposits a truth. Let us enter this room, look at our lives and see if they are blessed or not.

What is fruitful leads to authentic life

In the joy that we see expressed between these two expectant mothers, true happiness lies. For here there is a manifestation of that which is life. Life by its nature is fecund. That which is not fertile or which gives rise to bitter fruit is not life and does not lead to life. Let us abandon such empty things with serenity! Let us ask the Lord for the grace not to walk on unfruitful paths. It is important in life to remain always fruitful. But, you, might ask, how can an elderly person be fruitful? With their wisdom, with their welcome, their mercy, their patience. A man or woman can generate life in so many different ways. Some people have children but then raise them in a sterile way, a fruitless way which does not say “yes” to life, with closed unfruitful attitudes that do not give the space to others to mature. Some parents suffocate their children with their fixations and paternalism. We are about to celebrate Christmas. We celebrate the life that comes forth, Christ who is born, the encounter between God and man that finds realisation in His body. Let us take on attitudes of fruitfulness, of openness, of welcome! This is what the Lord is calling us to from the moment of creation: to bear fruit, to grow constantly, to multiply, to live as mothers and fathers in various ways and according to our own condition.

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