Cycle C - Year II:

19 December 2021: Fourth Sunday of Advent

(Liturgical Color: White for Simbang Gabi, or Violet)

Readings:

First Reading: Micah 5:1-4

Second Reading: Hebrews 10:5-10

Gospel: Please Read Luke 1:39-45

A meeting of two expectant mothers!

In the last Sunday of Advent we now light the fourth and last candle in the Advent Wreath symbolizing love: love for life and all creation, love for sinners and saints, love for the poor and the little ones in our midst, and especially God's love that redeems and shows us the way to His kingdom. This is also the last Sunday of our waiting and preparation for the big event that is Christmas Day, and the fourth in our Misa de Gallo or Simbang Gabi.

The Gospel from St. Luke narrates the visit of Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth, a blessed meeting of two expectant mothers. Let us meditate on this scene in the second of Joyful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary.

What is the significance of Mary's visit to Elizabeth in the history of our salvation?

We see in the meeting of these two cousins that they are eager to support and help each other at a time of major change in their lives. Both reach out in love and rejoice in the work of God in their lives.

They were filled with the Holy Spirit and Elizabeth greeted Mary and recognized the Messiah in Mary's womb, and with a joyful anticipation of the fulfillment of God's promise to give a Savior to humanity. The elderly Elizabeth, also herself with a child, reports that her child leaps with joy in her womb as the two cousins met. The unborn child John the Baptist in Elizabeth's womb is the very first to witness the divinity of the unborn Child Jesus in the temple of Mary's womb.

A marvelous wonder for God to fill both Elizabeth's heart with His Holy Spirit and the child in her womb as well. So John the Baptist, even before the birth of the Messiah, points to His coming and leaps for joy in the womb of his mother Elizabeth, as the Holy Spirit revealed to John the presence of the King to be born.

Much in the same way, the Holy Spirit is God's gift to us to enable us to know and experience the indwelling presence of God and the power of His kingdom. In other words, the Holy Spirit is the way in which God reigns within each of us. It is the Holy Spirit that opens our hearts to see and experience the presence of God in our lives. In today's Gospel scene Mary brought God to Elizabeth in her heart and in her womb with her visit. So likewise, we must bring God to everyone we meet, and everyone we meet must bring God to us.

As we wind up our spiritual preparation for the Lord's coming, let us pray that the grace of our Lord Jesus, the joy of Mary and Elizabeth, and the blessing of the Advent Season lead everyone of us to respond freely to God with the obedience of faith, even when sometimes we do not understand immediately God's plan for us. Let us pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit to understand in faith what our eyes and mind may fail to see. Amen.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!