FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
16 DECEMBER 2018
At
a very basic level, today’s Gospel presents us with a heart-warming scene. An elderly woman and a young woman have
conceived children in unusual circumstances.
The young woman goes in haste on a difficult journey from the backwater
village of Nazareth to the hill country north of Jerusalem. When the young
mother arrives at the home of the older mother, they embrace and give one
another support. Over the centuries,
artists have portrayed this intimate meeting in beautiful ways. At Saint Pius, we offer the “Elizabeth
Ministry” to offer support and help to mothers who are experiencing any
difficulty with childbirth.
At a deeper
level, the four characters have much to teach us about faith. Elizabeth reminds us of the promise made the
King David centuries before. God had
promised David that a savior would eventually come from his lineage. Discouraged by years of not being able to
bear a child, Elizabeth realizes that only God can bring new life. Mary represents God’s amazing grace in doing
something completely new. Within the
womb of Mary dwells the child conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit
and who fulfills the promise made to David in ways no one could ever have
expected. As King David had danced with
joy in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant being carried into Jerusalem, so
John the Baptist dances in his mother’s womb in the presence of Mary, the new
Ark of the Covenant carrying the eternal Word of God in her womb.
The Letter
to the Hebrews reminds us that Christmas is much more than having warm and
sentimental feelings about a newborn baby.
The Letter gives us an insight into the divine conversation between the
Father and the Son about the nature of sacrifice. Throughout the Old Testament, human beings
initiated ritual sacrifices that attempted to bridge the gap between the
holiness of God and the sinfulness of human beings. People would bring something very valuable to
the Temple – a newly born lamb, or a calf, or the first grains at harvest. They would present them to the priest, who
would destroy the gift and burn it. The
believer would then pray that this external offering would represent an internal
desire to be in union with God. The
Father points out that he does not want all those sacrifices, initiated by
humans. The Father is not a bloodthirsty
tyrant who seeks repayment for sin.
Rather, the Father initiates reconciliation by giving what is most
valuable to him: his only begotten
Son. The Son responds that the Father
has prepared a body for him, so that he can do the Father’s will to become the
scapegoat that takes upon himself the sins of the world.
We
celebrate the Mystery of the Incarnation at Christmas, because the Incarnation
is the first step toward the other Mystery of the death and resurrection of the
Lord later in his life. The adult John
the Baptist will dance again and point to him as the Lamb of
God. Jesus, one with the Father, identifies with the
vulnerable and, quite literally, takes on the role of the scapegoat to turn the
social shaming system of scapegoating upside down. As the Lamb of God, he will be sacrificed to
accomplish what all previous sacrifices could not accomplish: union with God. Both Elizabeth and Mary invite us to trust in
God’s plan. They are true disciples.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth recognizes the Lord and
tells Mary how blessed she is to carry that child. Mary, in turn, models for us what we do at
every Mass. She has listened carefully
to the Word of God. She gives praise and
thanks for what God has done for her.
She responds in faith to the Word of God and goes in haste to be of
humble service. Imitating the examples
of these two incredible women and asking their intercession, we prepare
ourselves to renew our faith that God took on human flesh in the person of
Jesus Christ and dwells among us.
No comments:
Post a Comment