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Year - B

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

READ: (2 Sam 7: 1-5, 8-12, 14; Rom 16: 25-27; Lk 1: 26-38)

REFLECT:  Realize the love of God to be raised on high pedestal of life…

Dear friends today we are in the fourth Sunday of Advent. The call to realization of God’s love in life is most important moment that we can cherish. The moment we realize that God loves us, we would begin to love God, love others and love ourselves, because loving God sets us standards and principles for living; loving God changes our outlook and attitudes that we have about others and ourselves; loving God sets us platform to love that all He had made, because in all created things we begin to see love of God imprinted or present. So based on the liturgy of the word, I would like to share with you three points of reflection as how realizing the love of God in life raises us on high pedestal of life.

1. Think of God always:

There is a familiar saying, “God thinks of us always but do we think of God.” I am sure the answer or response to the saying would be half ‘yes’ and half ‘no’, because most of us fail to think God, some of us think of God only when we are in need of, still some of us think of God when we are overcome by great stormy seas of life. But the reading manifests to us that even if we think of God a little, God will make the most of things for us. It may be like a drop in the ocean, but it does not matter, what matters is how often we think of God, when do we think of God, how and why do we think of God.

The first reading from the Second Samuel speaks about the building of the temple for God by David as he feels and observes that David lives n the house of Cedar but the Ark of the Covenant dwells in a tent. Perhaps in the chapter of second Samuel present to us as first reading, there are two different oracles from God to David, tied together on the word “house.” David wants to build a house for God but God intends to build David’s house. Perhaps it is something be admired and appreciated for having thought of God to bring about glory and honor to Him. Most of the times, when we grow rich we forget the poor or when we have riches we try to accumulate the most for oneself. We hardly find people to share the riches one has or help the poor out of the riches one is piled up with. King David having been well established in a palace and being safe and secured from all forms does not think of accumulating more for oneself rather his eye immediately meets the tent of the Lord, where God lives. King David was in a right position or place now to use his time, resources, and knowledge or all that he has to honor God, to glorify God and become close to God. The inner-feeling of David is thus said in the first reading, “see now, I dwell in the house of Cedar, but ark of God dwells in a tent.”

Perhaps, here the ‘cedar’ refers to costliest of woods or royal palace or houses built on but the tent is nothing but a simple place to dwell without much royalty and comfort. King David feels for God’s dwelling that God who has created vast planets, who created us is dwelling in a simple tent, therefore he wishes to make God’s dwelling in a royal place that’s highly and rightly due for God. Perhaps God is not interested nor wanted to dwell in the house built by human person, as sometimes belittling the power and glory of God, but God accepts willingness of King David but reminds through Nathan the prophet the past of King David, how God chose him, anointed him and set him apart for God’s people. Because of King David’s feel and bond of love for God, God now assures King David that his kingdom or dynasty would last forever, to build a new house for God and will be freed from all enemies.

King David just thought of building a house for God to live but God opened wide his heart to build a dynasty for David, which would last forever. That’s the magnanimity of God or generosity of God. That’s what one of the scriptural scholars would say, “This is so characteristic of God’s dealings with His children, where our desire to do things for Him are constantly outstripped by His plans to bless us. Yes, the abundance of God’s blessing that flows from his generous heart is unimaginable and incomparable, his blessings are always manifold for his children who think of him even for a little while or even if we don’t think of him, God’s generosity knows no boundaries. God blesses not just the things we do but the things we would like to do. God blesses our intentions. When the temple had been built and the ark was being brought to its new home, Solomon made a speech in which he told how God had blessed his father David because it was in his heart “to [build] a house for My name” (1 Kin 8:18). This is an early reminder that God’s interest is not just in our actions but in the interests of our hearts.

One thing is very clear and certain from the first reading of Second Samuel that King David had a massive dream and wanted to do something for God but God had a larger dream that which King David would have never imagined or dreamt in his life. Yes, when we think of God, God blesses out thoughts and purifies our intentions; when we think of God, God makes sure that he would think of us largely and bless us abundantly. Do we like to think of God and be blessed abundantly or do we still want to be thoughtless of God and be devoid of blessings in store for us freely available and accessible? The door is always open, we have to make a choice either to knock or open. So it depends on the choice that we make that would bring about God’s blessings on us in abundance. So let us think of God always and be blessed by God always.

2. Give glory to God:

We hear from the letter to the Hebrews, “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.”  The second reading of the day connects us to the same thread speaking of the secret and sacred hidden mystery that’s been revealed to us by the love that God has each one of us for our salvation. The mystery that was kept secret or hidden for all ages is now been manifested to all in order to bring about the obedience of faith to God and to the only wise God, be glory forever through Christ.

The second reading of the day is the last chapter of Romans and the last three verses from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans is enclosed with a magnificent doxology. In it are found many of the major themes of the Epistle to the Romans, that is “to God be Glory.” Glory belongs to God, because, God is described as the one who is able to establish and give strength to all. It is God, who intervened in the salvation history; it is the wisdom of God that devised perfect harmony in creation and in created things; it is Jesus the Son of God, who lived, served, suffered, died and rose again by the power of God. Therefore, to Him all glory rightly belongs. Yes, we give glory to God what is rightly to be given. God has manifested his glory in and through his creation and created things. Everything reflects the glory of God but it is we who have been the cause of shunning the reflection of the glory of God in us by our sinfulness in various ways. If we want to be free from our sinfulness, then we need to radiate the glory of God in our lives and making known one’s own glory to the entire world. Today it is very easy to blow one’s own trumpet but difficulty to acknowledge the one’s who have helped us to reach the glorious stage in life. It is undeniably God, who has taken us ahead to the glorious stages in life and we have to give glory to God always for such a blessing in life.   

Someone has very beautifully said, “To give God glory is to give him the honor, and the praise and the worship that his reputation demands. There is no way we can make God any more glorious than he already is. But what we can do is to hold him in the highest regard, giving him the transcendent praise of which he alone is worthy.” Yes,tToday we could see people those who glorify God both in words and in deeds. More than speaking of God or about God in words, if our deeds speak or reflect the glory of God, it could be the great impact to people we can give. So let not only our words speak rather deeds too speak and manifest the glory of God. Speaking of God and manifesting the glory of God in words and actions are the powerful mediums of reaching out to people in the world. The words of God or the good news of Christ leads to good actions manifesting the good side of us and the good side of us is always at God’s side.

Very beautifully Pope Francis says, “Giving glory to God for what he has done in one’s life means being absolutely honest about one's sins and failures. Each one of us has a story: a story of grace, a story of sin, a story of journey, and many things. It’s good to pray with our story, to recognize our failures and how, despite our sin and infidelity, God continues to seek us out, call us back and offer his grace.” Yes, we need to give glory to God for all the good works that God has done in life, taking away our fear and anxiety and giving us freedom and joy. For the good works of the Lord manifested in our lives, our good words, good works need to be manifested, so that it becomes an access to give glory to God in our lives. So let us not seek glory for oneself in all that we do rather give glory to God to whom it belongs.  It is in seeking God’s glory that we seek the grandeur and graciousness of God. Let seeking God’s glory in our lives be a soul-searching and soul-soothing task in our lives.

3. Accept the plan of God:

Accepting the plan of God could be another form of manifesting our love for God or realizing our call to love God as well. In the acceptance of God’s call and God’s plan, we don’t debate to get disturbed rather without much denial we accept willingly what God wants of us and firmly believe that God’s  plans for me is best. The Gospel reading of the day presents to us the annunciation of the Lord to Mary. It is a clear point of focus on Jesus, of whom mother Mary would be a vessel to bear in her womb and a channel to make known the good news of God about Christ to one another. Therefore it is not the annunciation of Mother Mary but the annunciation of the Lord to Mary through the angel Gabriel. Although the account of annunciation involves a conversation between the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary, the key figure in this section is clearly Mary’s offspring Jesus, just as the key figure of the previous section was Zechariah and Elizabeth’s future offspring is John the Baptist. Moreover, there are various Christological titles that appear in the gospel of Luke in today’s gospel passage that gives clues to show that the passage’s main focus is Jesus. The Christological titles are the following; Jesus as the Son of God (1:32, 35), Jesus as the Davidic Messiah (1:32-33) and Jesus’ kingdom is eternal (1:33), Jesus as the Holy One (1:35).

So If Jesus is the main focus what about the role and purpose of Mother Mary. The purpose and role of Mother Mary is to realize her call to love God by becoming a vessel and channel of God’s love to all. Accepting the call to be a vessel and channel of God by Mary is to be greatly admired, because by that purpose and role she would become part of the salvation history that God wanted to inaugurate and co-operate with God’s plan of redeeming us all back to himself. Perhaps, Mary had a choice. She accepted and responded God with a firm conviction and decision saying, “Let it be to me according to your word.” It reminds us that Mother Mary relied on God’s word and accepted God’s plan for her in life. If we could notice, God never forces His love or His will on anyone. He just gives them an option; he gives them freedom; he makes them understand; he makes them choose what one is capable of handling; he makes sure that he would accompany them. The best example in this regard would be Mother Mary, where God did not only prompted Mary at the time of annunciation of the Lord rather journeyed with her throughout her life, making her as an example to follow, enabling her to understand the plan of God, making her to accept the plan of God without a sigh of the oppressed or distressed. The consequence here is that the angel was announcing God’s plan and purpose to Mary and that would not be fulfilled without her consent.

Just have a recap of mother Mary’s situation. Having been part of the Jewish setup and customs, Mother Mary knew that she would suffer the mockery and would be part of gossips of many as she was found with a child before marriage. Knowing all this, yet Mother Mary said, “Let it be to me according to your word.” I am sure that we all would agree that the words uttered by Mother Mary is certainly one of the most courageous statements ever recorded. Knowing the fact what the incident would lead to and what would be the consequences, yet, fearlessly with firm faith in God, Mary says, ‘yes’ to God. All that she had in mind was to solely rely on God’s word, God’s wise plans, so she accepted willingly. This is what we very clearly see in the episode of the annunciation of the Lord; God initiated and Mary immediately responded to God; God invited and Mary became the recipient of God’s favor; God intervened and Mary became the participant of the salvation that God inaugurated. Likewise, God calls each one of us to carry Jesus in our bodies to manifest the love of God… are we ready and willing like mother Mary to be a vessel and to be a channel?

Pope Francis very beautifully tells us, “Mary does not say: ‘If it has to happen, let it happen… if it cannot be otherwise…’ It is not resignation. No, she does not express a weak and submissive acceptance, but rather she expresses a strong desire, a vivacious desire. She is not passive, but active. She does not submit to God, she binds herself to God. She is a woman in love prepared to serve her Lord completely and immediately.” Yes Mother Mary was ready and willing to say ‘yes’ to God completely without any delay or procrastination. Today while we examine our lives we find that we too procrastinate or delay or we don’t even respond or ignore someone who needs our help and support for genuine reasons. That’s the heart-shattering moment for someone who really needs our help and support. The ‘yes’ for someone who has a genuine need, the joy will be inexplicable and unending, they would never forget for life-time and they would remember and cherish forever in life.

Let us realize that God rejoices in our acts when we do help and support people who are in real needs or basic needs. Our ‘yes’ can be to people who are weak and vulnerable; our ‘yes’ can be to people who have no one to pray for; our ‘yes’ can be to people who are struggling in life and want to survive by the grace of God. Let us remember that God expects us or will make us say ‘yes’ to things that are most important and most urgent. Are we ready to encounter God like Mary and respond to him with a ‘yes’ to meet the daily and dire needs of people in genuine reasons or cause? and let us pray that like Mary our Mother, we may learn to say ‘yes’ to people who need our help and support for genuine or real reasons in life, because when we help people those who are in need, we really see the face of God in them too. Let us also remember that we have lighted the fourth candle of advent, the candle of love. Let this candle of love burn brightly in our lives to love God, to love others as we love ourselves. May we be shrouded by the power of God’s love to show God’s love to all through the birth of Christ, the saviour of the world.

RESPOND:

Do we think of God always or only when need arises?

Do we speak of God in words or the deeds manifest the glory of God in our lives?

Do we accept the plan of God or do we try to accommodate ourselves in self-made projects and plans?

Let us think of God always, speak of God in deeds and accept the plan of God for grace to overflow in abundance. Amen.

 God bless us all! Live Jesus!

Fr. Ramesh George MSFS

rameshvkmsfs@gmail.com

9500930968