December 19th 2021.  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

 

SUMMARY OF HOMILY

1. When we have authentic faith, we are filled with zeal to do the good things the Spirit prompts is to do. We act with joy because we are motivated by something beautiful and illuminating.

On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we have the description of the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth, two women who are pregnant by the extraordinary grace of God, one who was too old to conceive, the other a virgin. How is this passage relevant to our preparation for Christmas? At the Annunciation, the angel had told Mary about the pregnancy of Elizabeth, thus giving her a sign of the course of action she must follow. Mary responds by leaving “in haste”. The original Greek term means to do something with zeal, with zealous attention to doing something well. This is a characteristic of authentic faith, which expresses itself in joy at doing what needs to be done. One rejoices at what one is doing when one is motivated by something beautiful and illuminating.

 

2. Heaven salutes Mary and Mary salutes Elizabeth. It is like a wave of greeting initiated by God. Before we can say something worthwhile to the world, we must listen to God. Otherwise what we say is mediocre and barren. It is more urgent to improve our listening ability than our communication ability.

Mary enters Elizabeth’s house and salutes her cousin. In response, the infant leaps in Elizabeth’s womb. The Greek word for “salute” indicates to open oneself to the other; it refers to the initiating of the encounter, the onset of the relationship. Interestingly, the angel Gabriel had saluted Mary with the words, “Hail, full of grace!” Heaven had saluted Mary, and now Mary salutes Elizabeth. It is like a progressive wave of greeting initiated in heaven. Heaven salutes us and we in turn salute the world. If we do not open ourselves to heaven’s communication, if we do not say yes, then we remain mediocre and barren in our relationship with the world. But when we welcome what heaven is communicating to us, we can say marvellous things to the world. Often, what we as Christians say to others is based at efforts to improve our communication skills, but what we really need to do is receive better what heaven is saying to us. Before saluting others, we must first listen and allow ourselves to be saluted by heaven.

 

3. We have all been visited by grace. Let us contemplate it and recognize it. Let us allow ourselves to be filled with joy at the way God has manifested his love by coming among us and touching me personally.

This salutation that comes from Mary – who has opened herself to the word of God – becomes in turn the leap of John the Baptist in Elizabeth’s womb. What has just happened to John the Baptist in the womb is something we have all experienced to some degree. When the Gospel is preached to us in the right way, our hearts are moved within us. Like John the Baptist, we too have the Holy Spirit. We must seek to remember the joy we experienced on those occasions when we heard the Gospel being announced to us properly. Just as Elizabeth, simply upon hearing the voice of Mary, was conscious of the presence of God, so each one of us innately perceives the operation of God in our lives. Each one of us has been touched by grace and experienced the beauty of God at some point. Elizabeth says, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled”. To that we can add that we are blessed if we welcome the joy that comes with belief that the Lord is fulfilling his promises. This Advent may we welcome the Good News, welcome with joy the visit of the Lord, nurture that joy in our hearts so that it becomes a song of exultation. At the visitation we have two women who sing with joy at the life that is being born. In all of us, new life can be born, if only we welcome it and recognize it. Let us not repress our joy before the Good News, the love of God that presents itself through grace in our lives.

 

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY

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.