THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT - B

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT: B
(2Sam 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16; Rom 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38)

Theme: We have to become ourselves the ‘home of welcome’ for the Lord

Reflection:

- We are in the last Sunday of Advent and we are moving very rapidly towards the Great Feast of Our Christian Life: Christmas – the Birth of the Savior. As we are thoroughly preparing for this great event God desires that we ourselves become a ‘home’ for Him. This is what we are called to ‘make ready’: the House for the Lord.
- Last week we meditated on the theme that we have to enkindle our life with the joy of the Lord and thus we promised him to be ‘happy’ and ‘joyful’ always. Before, we enter into our reflection today, let us examine ourselves, let us ask ourselves whether we are still happy and joyful, whether we still carry with us the joy of the Lord and whether we are still with the shining light of the Lord or whether we have put off the ‘light of joy’ by being drowned into the ocean of daily difficulties and problems.
- Today, the Church asks us to leave aside all these worries and place them in the hands of the Lord because he is the one who bears all our ‘difficulties’. Instead, the Church exalts us to ‘prepare a home’ for the coming of the Lord. Not any home but a home which is always ready to welcome anyone who wants to enter in.
- As we are approaching the celebration of the coming of Jesus, we have to prepare this home of welcome and allow him enter because ‘He wants to be with us’ and He is Immanuel. The readings of today help us in preparing this ‘home of welcome’ which is nothing but our own heart.

First Reading:

- The kingdom of David will remain firm forever:
o The promise of Nathan to David is the basic text for entire phrase of biblical messianic theology;
o David wanted to build a house for the Lord. It is his desire expressed to the prophet Nathan;
o He puts forward what he thinks; after having a big and great house for himself in the capital of Jerusalem and after seeing that the ‘ark of the Lord’ is still under the roof of the tent, he makes known his will to build a house also for the Lord: “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent” (v.2);
o Even the prophet, in his human thinking, suggests to him to do what he thinks is right: “God, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you” (v.3);
o Here we see the combination of two human minds, the thought of two human intelligence, and the work of two human wills: ‘the desire of David and the advice of Nathan to do the same’; they are not worried about what God’s plan is and what God thinks about it; since their intention is to build a house for God, they thought that it would be fine; that’s why even the prophet, who as a spokesperson has, normally and as a condition, to consult with God before he speaks out a word, did not do what he supposed to do, instead confirms the desire of David and asks him to go forward in doing what he thinks.
o But God’s will and intention is different: “God’s thoughts of far distant than human thoughts and God’s actions are beyond human actions” is the prophecy of Isaiah about God’s powerfulness and almightiness (Is 55:8-9). It is here it is fully expressed: He appeared to Nathan and told him to prophesy differently than what he has already proposed to David as his own word. The verse is very clear about this. Verses 4 and 5: “But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: God and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?” these verses need little explanation to understand the true will of God:
 But: the verse starts with ‘but’ which is placed as the contradicting adjective to all that what has been planned and desired.
 That same night: God’s intervention is immediate and contemporary, though many times people think that He acts slowly. God intervenes certainly when his plans are misunderstood or when something is planned contradictory with regards to his plan. ‘That same night’ is the phrase which also proves that ‘false prophecy’ or ‘false testimony’ or ‘false word’ will not last longer; it will be confronted immediately and at the immediate possibility;
 The word of the Lord came to Nathan: it is the word of the Lord that has to prevail and take predominance. It is the word of the Lord that has to be announced and made known; it was contrary to this word of the Lord that Nathan has spoken and it is not in accordance with this word that the prophet has talked; for this reason, now the word of the Lord himself comes to the prophet to alert him and to make him realize his mistake of pronouncing his own words;
 God and tell my servant David: God acknowledges and accepts David as his servant since it is He himself who has called and made David a king; God once again emphasizes the ‘important position’ of David as his servant and his recognition before him. That’s what He asks the prophet to go and tell to David;
 Thus says the Lord: God confirms his word by saying ‘thus’; with this He keeps the desire of David on one hand and the positive response of Nathan on the other at false side; God throws away the intention of David and the word of Nathan; He reveals to Nathan that they have made ‘thoughts’ against his thoughts and they wanted to act as they wanted; Now God demands Nathan to tell word as His word and it is prophet’s responsibility to say God’s word;
 Are you the one to build a house? : A question through which God admonishes David; a question which leads to many other questions: ‘who has said that you have to build?’, ‘who are you to decide what you have to do for me?’, ‘Are you so much capable and powerful to build a house for me?’; building the house for the ark of the Lord on the part of David is nothing wrong but ultimately it is God who decides what he wants and where he lives; David and Nathan have forgotten this truth; in his prosperous and victorious life David thought that he can do anything and everything for the Lord and he, by doing this, for moment, forgets that it is the Lord himself who has made him successful king;
o God declares his desire and wish reminding David all that He has done to him: that’s what God says in the following prophecy:
 It is He who has called him: “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel” (v.8);
 It is He who has guided him: “I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies before you” (v.9);
 It lets David to come down again from his high thoughts of himself and place himself as a humble servant before the will of God, because, he would not have done anything good or he would not have this power and position now without the ‘call’ and ‘guidance’ of the Lord.
o God once again promises to David that it is not he who has to build the house but it is the one whom he will rise up as his descendent who will build a temple for him and it is through him that He would keep the kingdom firm and forever.
- God amidst his people: Immanuel:
o God does not want a building or a temple or a house for him;
o From the beginning He has decided or desired to be with his people and among his people;
o His residence is amidst his people and in their hearts;
o He wanted to be with them than staying in a beautiful edifice or great temple;
o David and Nathan were not able to understand the desire/design of God;
o It is with this purpose of ‘living with his people’ that God has chosen them and safeguarded them till now and will do so forever.
o God wants that we prepare our heart as ‘a home of welcome’ for him.

Second Reading:

- The mystery which was kept in silence for centuries is now revealed:
o The final part of the letter to the Romans is a small yet grand hymn in which the Church, as St. Paul himself, expresses her wonder and amazement in front of the mystery of incarnation and of salvation offered by God to the entire humanity. It is a mystery “proclaimed through the prophetic scriptures”; it is a mystery which was hidden for years together in the will of God; the silent mystery has been now manifested and “revealed” in the person of Jesus Christ;
o The Church now goes back to reflect and “retrospect” the promise of salvation, and enjoys the gift of self-communication of God in time and in history, that is, the presence and efficacy of Christ himself, and re-lives now this mystery of ‘the Birth of her Savior’. It is the key of reflection that the Church puts forward as she celebrates the birth of Jesus in the history and for the salvation of every person;
- Break of silence and beginning of action:
o The silence of the mystery is break open; the word which was always in its proclamation in and through the prophecies of the Old Testament is now become ‘The Word’ made ‘Flesh’; the word which was above the world and through which the whole creation is brought forth is now ‘in’ the world and ‘amidst’ his people (John 1:1-14);
o This Word of God, which was kept in secret is now manifested; God was waiting for the appointed time and preparing His Word to enter into the world; for years He has kept is hidden only because ‘the time has to come’.
o Jesus Christ, the Word of the Father, the Word from the beginning of the world, the Word who was the Cause of all creation, was the silent speech in the mouth of the prophets; was the silent command in the mouth of the kings; was the silent word in the promise; and it is the same silent word which has destroyed its silence and entered into the world and finally, is manifested in the mission of Jesus.
o All the proclamation of this Word/Gospel, in silence as mystery and in time as revelation, has taken place – in history – so that all the people and all the nations will reach God with the same obedience and faith which the Word itself manifested in its Speaker (Christ/Word’s obedience and faith to the Father/God).

Gospel:

- Mary is the virgin-mother chosen by God: the exegetical understanding of the passage of the Gospel:
o Annunciation to Mary is preceded by the ‘annunciation to Zachariah’ (Lk 1:5-25) and the immediate reference is made to Mary about Elizabeth who is ‘in the sixth month’. And it is the starting point for this passage too: ‘in the sixth month’ Angel Gabriel is sent to Mary. After describing the places and situations, Luke presents the ‘the message of an Angel’ and it has a beginning with the ‘greeting’ of angel and the reaction of Mary (vv.28-29) and then there is the development of the message of an angel in two parts (vv. 30-33 and vv.35-37) which are divided by the question of Mary which comes in between (v.34) and the Luke ends this account with the ‘response’ from Mary (v.38).
o An Angel sent by God (v.26): it is God himself who prepares and fulfills his interventions in the history of mankind through his ‘ambassadors’ and here it is angel Gabriel; Nazareth (v.26): is a small village in the province of Jude which is hidden and ignored in the bible and in the story of Israel until now and from now on it will be remembered for ever because, it is from here the ‘novelty’ of the future started and it is from here the annunciation of ‘good news’ began and Nazareth is the first village from which the word of God will begin to enter into the new and unknown places too.
o Virgin (v.27): Angel Gabriel after meeting the old man and a married priest, Zachariah, now comes to meet a young virgin Mary in her house; nothing more is spoken of Mary except “promised bride” of a man from the house of David, called Joseph: this tells us some changes and some innovations that would take place soon: Joseph who comes from Nazareth, a small and insignificant village, brings us to the truth that the real house of David is in destruction (Amos 9:11 and Acts 15:16-17) and it will be reconstructed from ‘nothing’ (Lk 2:10-12) and it would be realized through the gratuitous grace of God (Is 11:10) and this is what Gabriel has come to announce as we see in the following verses.
o Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you (v.28): literally it means ‘rejoice!’ it is a Greek form of greeting and it is a greeting of joy. It reminds us to be joyful of the ‘good news’ of the divine oracles (Wisdom 3:14; Zach 9:9); ‘full of grace’ or ‘favored one’: it manifests God’s gratuitous love towards his people and it is with this privilege that God has endowed Mary. It only shows the ‘condition’ in which Mary is found; Mary is found in the grace of God and in the favor of God; in this way Mary becomes the personification of the whole people of Israel (till then) and the Church (from then on). That is the reason why the early Church has recognized Mary as the ‘icon’ and the ‘image’ of God’s grace. The Lord be with you: it is the expression found very often in the bible and in the moments of the vocations: Moses (Ex 3:12), Gideon (Judges 6:12), and Jeremiah (Jer 1:8). In Mary this formula has reached its peak and its fullness because ‘the son’ who will be born of her will be called ‘Immanuel’ which means, ‘God with us’ (Is 7:14; Math 1:22-23).
o Perplexed (v.29): Mary is perplexed like that of Zachariah (v.12). it is not because of the presence of an angel but because of the word of the angel that Mary is disturbed: She is not able to understand what sense that this kind of greetings brings to her.
o Do not be afraid (v.30): In front of the divine manifestations Mary, like that of all the figures of Old Testament (Moses, Gideon, Isaiah, Daniel and Zachariah too in Luke 1:13), feels a religious fear. In this context, and each time of this sort, the messenger brings the assurance of God: ‘the Lord is with you’ and this is the formula also found in the many oracles of salvation (Is 41:10).
o You will have a son (v.31): having a son is good news to any mother; God acts with Mary as he has acted with the mother of Isaac (Gen 18) or with the mother of Samson (Judges 13). Mary has understood that this announcement is the realization of the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14. You will name him Jesus: the name of Jesus is also provided before as that of name of John to Zachariah. Jesus is the name which brings the hope and that is the reason why it signifies: “the Lord saves’, but this would be revealed only later in 2:11.
o Son of the Most High (v.32): not only the name of Jesus but this ‘boy’ will have another name, that is, ‘the son of the Most High’. With this the true identity of the baby is revealed. The throne of David which God will give him will be realized when ‘he will be recognized by the people’ as the son of David (18:39 – the blind men see in Jesus the son of David);
o Will reign (v.33); God fulfills all that He has promised to David (2 Sam 7). He brings to the end the story of his people and gives them new initiation with this Jesus, son of David.
o How? I do not know man (v.34): Mary does not object what has been said to her by angel; she only asks for the clarification of the mode in which this annunciation would be realized; “I am a virgin or I do not know man”: with these words Mary only states her situation and her condition which is not the ‘ripe time’ for the conception of a baby; here, the Church has found the virginal conception of Jesus: Mary is sinless and stainless in her giving birth to Jesus; here, the Church found the divine origin of the baby and as the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
o Holy Spirit (v.35): This is the first and decisive intervention of the grand actor of the opera of salvation, in Acts and in Luke: the reference of the Holy Spirit. Even before being revealed in the Baptism of Jesus in Jordan, Holy Spirit acts in Mary to make Messiah to be born of her. “Shadow of the Holy Spirit” (v.35): the same Greek word of ‘shadow’ is used also during the Transfiguration of Jesus (Lk 9:34). It leads us back to the experience of the desert in which there was a ‘shining cloud’ which was guiding the people and with its shadow covering the tent that Moses had made in the camp (Ex 40:34-35). The tent was the house of God in the midst of his people. here, by bringing this expression, Luke presents Mary as the ‘virgin-woman’ who become the house for God: in this way the prophecy of Nathan would be fulfilled (2 Sam 7). But there is also something else that takes place: God edifies the new and true house of David in the person of Mary (not in the person of his son Solomon); because it is from her that God makes his true and only son born. This is the reason why God makes her full of grace and gives her to his son as his home. ‘Son of God’ (v.35): the boy will be called the son of God: it was same as the ‘son of the Most High’ of v.32; more than the meaning of the words, the actual difference is emphasized on the ‘virginity of Mary’ and the ‘action of the Holy Spirit’ and these two aspects make the baby ‘son of God’ and this would be later on confirmed in the voice of the Father (3:22) and in the Transfiguration (9:35) and will be found again in the prayers of Jesus (10:21-22), in the agony (22:42) and on the cross (23:46).
o Elizabeth (v.36): a sign of faith is provided to Mary; God in his many of interventions gives the signs so that ‘the faith will be aroused’ for the acceptance of his word and will; this is only the thought of Luke and it would be found often in his writings (2:15) and in Acts (8:15-17).
o Nothing is impossible to God (v.37): this expression has its origin in the event of God’s interaction with Abraham and Sarah (Gen 18:14) and it provokes them to believe in the Lord’s providence; the same faith was demanded in all the stages of the history of salvation.
o I am the servant of the Lord (v.38): this title of servant: a) express the humility and the availability of Mary in the confrontation with God’s will; b) express also her heart and her desire to collaborate with the action of God; in the bible, the great personalities are called the servants of God; Mary serves embracing the Word; serves also reaching out to her relative Elizabeth. “According to you word” (v.38): this word of Angel contains the entire Gospel. By accepting this word of an angel by her ‘great Yes’ she becomes the first disciple of the Gospel.
- Mary responds ‘with her Amen’ to the choice made by God:
o We may have to go in the reverse gear to understand this; the entire passage of Gospel has its meaning and fulfillment only in the last verse in which Mary says: “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (v.38); if this positive response were not to be there we could not imagine the whole context and whole text at all;
o Not only that God has made her say ‘yes’ by making her full of grace and giving her all the privileges; it is also that Mary has prepared herself to that level of ‘being available’ for the great event of salvation;
o With her hope and with her prayers she was also waiting for the Messiah and for the kingdom of God; finally when it has come and it has asked her, her consent, for its fulfillment, Mary who was always ready and awaiting, has realized that it is through her that God has willed ‘for the great event’ of salvation and this is what made her say ‘Yes’ to the Word of the Lord;
o Only this type of expectation of the salvation and restoration of life made her to be always at the disposition for the will of God, although there are many other troubles and humiliations await her on the other hand.
o She is ‘so courageous’ to accept the will of God and make her ‘womb’ a home for the Lord: it is because she is always prepared for any kind of intervention of God.
o God wanted the ‘human consent’ for his coming and for his entrance into the world; human consent with full freedom and with perfect personal decision; this is what God expected or asked of Mary and Mary too, who is always ready to accept everything in silence and in faith, has given her ‘total and free consent’ for the action of God in and through her;
o In other words: She has always her heart and her life as a ‘home prepared’ for the Lord; it was the home that was always pure and virgin; and God searches this kind of ‘house’ for himself and once he finds it prepares the person with his grace towards the acceptance of his will;
o We cannot imagine the salvation without ‘Yes’ of Mary; it is not that God could not have done or chosen other ways but in his freedom and in his love, He has chosen to be born of a Virgin and this Virgin, knowing well His intentions with the grace already working in her, accepts to ‘bring forth’ the savior of the humanity.

Conclusion:

- The Annunciation reveals two things for us:
o It is the ‘loving act’ of the Trinity: it is the first instance in which the Trinity is revealed and Mary becomes already the ‘bearer’ of the love of the Trinity: it is the Father’s Plan, it is the Son who is to be born of her and it is the Spirit who makes her give birth both to the design of God and the savior of the world;
o The entire salvation history has its final ‘stage’ in the annunciation: it comprises the whole promise made through the prophets and the whole preparation made by the people and it is totally ‘realized’ in the dialogue and acceptance of Mary; Jesus is to be the ‘heir of David’: it is with David that God has established and stabilized his kingdom although there was king Saul before him; Jesus will be the eternal king who comes from the throne of David; Jesus is from the house of Jacob: it is with Jacob that God has stabilized his people, calling him Israel, although the actual beginning was in Abraham; by bringing these two references – David and Jacob – the annunciation connects all the salvation history which will have its final realization in Jesus and through Mary.
- God has willed to take human help:
o Not that God needs men for his actions; St. Augustine says that ‘God, who has created you without you, cannot save you without you’.
o God wills and asks the human cooperation in his work of salvation: we are the human hand for God’s will.
o Mary has accepted to be ‘the human collaboration’ to bring the will of God into an action; Mary has extended her help in time and in worthiness.
- Let us prepare a house for the Lord:
o God wants to live among us; God will to be with us; God searches a house amidst us;
o May be for this Christmas He wants to be with you and with me: therefore, as we prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord, let prepare our heart as a house for his indwelling and the human heart is the ‘home’ that God likes most to live in.
- We have to become ourselves the ‘home of welcome’ for the Lord: not any other cribs, nor any other preparations that God needs; he needs only ‘YOU’ and he needs ‘Your HEART’ and it should be the ‘HOME’ we have to prepare for the Lord for this year and let us conclude this reflection by asking ourselves: ‘Am I ready to become a home for the Lord?’