Breaking Open the Word

By James Cavanagh

Dec. 20: Fourth Sunday of Advent
Scripture readings:

• Micah 5:1-4
• Psalm 80:2-3, 15-19
• Hebrews 10:5-10
• Luke 1:39-45

 

 

Overview:  Overview: Micah was a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah toward the end of the eighth century B.C. He saw the destruction of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians and warned that the same fate could happen to Jerusalem unless they repented of their apostasy, greed and injustice. He predicted Jerusalem’s downfall, but he also foresaw its restoration and the revival of the Davidic kingdom, which is the substance of this week’s first reading. The new king, the Son of God, would be born not in the stately city of Jerusalem, but in the lowly town of Bethlehem. The second reading may seem a bit incongruous right before Christmas, but it’s meant to remind us of the reason why the Son of God became man. Christ’s human body, which took shape in the womb of the Virgin Mary, was the same body that was beaten, scourged and nailed to a cross, laid in a tomb and rose from the dead. The wood of the manger and the wood of the cross were hewn, as it were, from the same tree.  This week’s Gospel describes the visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth who called her “blessed.”  Mary is blessed for three reasons: (1) because she believed the word spoken to her by the angel; (2) she was obedient to that word and, most important (3) because she was privileged to become the Mother of God and the “instrument of hope for all men.”

Key verse: “A body you prepared for me” (Heb 10:5).

“Catechism of the Catholic Church”: “Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time. For the first time in the plan of salvation and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the dwelling place where his Son and his Spirit could dwell among men. In her, the ‘wonders of God’ that the Spirit was to fulfill in Christ and the Church began to be manifested” (No. 721).

Pope Benedict XVI: “Let us turn our gaze and our heart to him, in spiritual union with the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Advent. Let us place our hand in hers and enter joyfully into this new time of grace that God gives as a gift to his Church for the good of all humanity. Like Mary and with her maternal help, let us make ourselves docile to the action of the Holy Spirit, so that the God of peace may sanctify us totally and the Church become a sign and instrument of hope for all men.” ?
Life application: Protestants often wonder why Catholics revere Mary. The reason is simple: from her body, the body of the Redeemer was formed. Because of her “yes!” God “prepared a body,” which would take away the sins of the world. God chose a humble young woman, a mere “nobody” by worldly standards, to manifest the “wonders of God.”