Gospel Reflection 2020/2021

The Gospel reading of the Fourth Sunday of Advent proposes to us the account of the Annunciation by angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Annunciation stands at the center of the drama of salvation. Without the Annunciation, no cross and no resurrection; without the Annunciation, no Church or sacraments; without the Annunciation, no eternal life on high with God! [Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas]

Here are some points for our further reflection:

1) The faith and perseverance of Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah.

It was narrated that both of them were upright in the sight of God and impeccably carried out all the commandments and observances of the Lord [Lk 1: 5]. They were childless because Elizabeth was barren and they were both advanced in age.

Being childless was considered a curse or punishment from God. And thus, the couple had suffered great humiliation in public. Though the Lord was seemingly silent and absent, their faith did not waver, they persevered and trusted in the Lord. In God’s time, ‘she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month.’ [Lk 1:36]

When the Lord is seemingly slow, silent, or even absent, He is in fact preparing us for something greater.

2) The faith and fiat (yes) of Mary.

When the angel appears to Mary, she is disturbed, confused, bewildered, uncertain, and definitely afraid. She struggles to understand but the Annunciation and the mystery of the Incarnation (the Word made flesh) are simply incomprehensible to human mind.

She understands very little, does not know what to expect and what will entail, but she puts her complete and total trust in the Most High God. Her fiat (let it be done) is a complete acceptance of and a total surrender to God’s divine will. Her fiat is not a one-off consent but a continuous ‘Yes-to-God’; it is not a singular promise but a lifelong commitment.

Likewise, our ‘Yes-to-God’ must also be a continuous and lifelong commitment to God.

3) The faith and obedience of angel Gabriel.

Angels are the spiritual beings created by God. They are the messengers of God. Angels are powerful but not all-powerful; they are knowing but not all-knowing. Even angels do not know the depth and width of the mind of God [cf. Rm 11: 34].

As a messenger himself, angel Gabriel must also be wondering: What are human beings that You spare a thought for them, or the child of Adam that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little less than a god, You have crowned him with glory and beauty [Ps 8: 4-5].

He might not have fully understood the mind of God, and he could have run away from his mission like Prophet Jonah or rebelled against God like the fallen angels. Yet he chooses to submit himself to God and to trust in God’s wisdom, and he chooses to love what God loves.

Like Gabriel, we are also called to be faithful messengers of God - to bring Truth to the world as it is, regardless it is welcomed or resisted.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI reflects that, “With only a few days until the Feast of Christmas, we are invited to fix our eyes on the ineffable mystery that Mary treasured for nine months in her virginal womb: the mystery of God who is made man (the Incarnation).”

Like Elizabeth, Zechariah, Gabriel and Mary, may we have the faith to put up with God's incomprehensibility for a lifetime. [cf. Fr Karl Rahner]

Let our fervent prayer be:

“Dear Lord, give me faith and help me surrender to Your holy will.”