May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for
us.
Our time of preparation is almost over. It can be measured in hours. During these four weeks of the season of
Advent we have been preparing to welcome Jesus Christ. On the first Sunday, as we began our time of
preparation, we pondered the mystery of Christ as the one who fulfills the
promise of the prophets, as our model of holiness and as the one who teaches us
to watch and to wait. On the Second
Sunday of Advent we received our guide for the Advent season in the person of
John the Baptist. John the Baptist
invited us to prepare the way of the Lord and make straight his paths. On the Third Sunday of Advent, as we were
invited to rejoice at the nearness of the Lord, John the Baptist pointed us to
one who is to come. The task of John the
Baptist, as our guide in this time of preparation to welcome Jesus Christ, was
to prepare the way of the Lord, to proclaim his presence, and to adore him when
the glory of the Lord appeared.
Our readings today surprise us with the very small places
from which the plan of the Lord will unfold.
In our reading from the book of the prophet Micah we hear the
announcement that a tiny city will again be the birthplace of a great king. Bethlehem, whose name literally means “the
house of bread”, is the city where David the King was born. In a small and unexpected city, the glory of
the Lord who is both King and Shepherd will soon appear.
In our reading from the gospel of Luke we do not hear the
name of Jesus nor do we hear the name of John the Baptist, yet both of them are
there. Both of them too small to be
seen, veiled in the sacred wombs of their mothers, the final prophet sent from
God proclaims the presence of the Lord and adores him. Today we hear the first part of the mystery
of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth. Following her encounter with the Angel
Gabriel, and her grace-filled word of acceptance of her place in the plan of
the Father, the Blessed Virgin Mary traveled in haste to visit Elizabeth. The humble virgin of Nazareth is now the
mother of the Lord, and when her greeting reached the ears of the mother of the
prophet of the Most High God, the unborn John the Baptist leaped for joy. It is an unborn child who is the first to
offer worship to Jesus Christ. Though he
is a child too small to be seen, John the Baptist guides us to adore the
presence of Jesus Christ.
Elizabeth and John the Baptist rejoice because the Mother of
the Lord had come to them. During our
time of preparation in the season of Advent, we too have been privileged to
welcome the Mother of the Lord, who is our mother as well. On the eighth of December we celebrated the
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrating the first moment
of the life of Mary and the triumph of the grace of God. On the twelfth of December, we celebrated the
feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and we rejoiced that the Mother of our Lord had
appeared on our continent.
John the Baptist has guided us during the weeks of Advent as
we prepare to welcome Jesus Christ. For
the final hours of our time of preparation, our guide has brought us to Mary,
and he adores the Lord present in her womb.
Let us now turn to Mary and journey with her to Bethlehem. Let us accompany her who will bring forth her
firstborn son, who is both Christ and Lord.
And with the anticipation and joyful hope of this holy Mother, let us enter
into the mystery of this Eucharist and complete our preparation to welcome Jesus
Christ.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic
Church, Monroe, NC
