Sunday in the Fourth Week of Advent
Intention: We pray for a faith-filled and transforming Christmastime for our world, one that we fill with peace, justice, and good will toward all.
Today’s Gospel | Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “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 called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
A Short Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
The writer Andrew Murray once observed, “Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you.” In other words, many of life’s most graced moments can be lost if we have filled our lives so much with ourselves that there is no room for anything else. In today’s Gospel, we see in Mary someone who understands this. At first glance, it might appear that she has been stunned by the unexpected. However, look again and it becomes clear that her incredulity at Gabriel’s visit has a different explanation. She is not astonished that such a thing could happen; she is astonished that it is happening to her. And it is because of this simple and humble sense of herself that she has been chosen. A humble heart lives in readiness for God’s inevitable approach, quietly prepared to welcome, to listen, to accept. To the self-centered and misguided, this looks like passivity, like weakness. In fact, the ability to see ourselves in light of our need for God and live out of that awareness is how we gain the strength of knowing who we are and what are lives are capable of becoming. It is the power of humility that can bring us into harmony with God’s will. The season of Advent calls us to empty ourselves of all that is only ourselves so that we are able to be filled by the holy presence of God.
Prayer
Eternal Father, as the days draw closer to the one when we remember the birth of your Son, help us to open our ears and hearts to the sound of his approach. Teach us to prepare a place in our lives in which we can greet him and embrace his presence. May we be filled with gratitude that your promise has been kept and that we have been shown our salvation and that of our world. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.