Advent

Advent, December 23rd

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In today’s Gospel we see a happy ending to Zechariah’s quiet time due to his lack of faith in the message the angel Gabriel gave him a few days ago in the readings. John didn’t believe what the angel said would come to pass and now, after months of silence to contemplate the events unfolding and the angel’s promise coming true, he had an opportunity to get his faith back on track. Instead of being a silent spectator to the wonders unfolding he finally achieved the spiritual maturity to conform to God’s will for him and his family. He didn’t know his voice would be restored, but now he believed and obeyed, confirming that his newborn son’s name should be John as the angel said.

When he emerged from the Temple a few months ago, unable to speak, lips wagged. Now people realized that something bigger was going on, and gossip spread throughout the hill country. It would be years before they realized how big it was. The newborn John was already starting to fulfill the promise in the First Reading: his father turned back to him and turned back to God’s plan. Thanks to Zechariah’s renewed faith he received a voice again to sing the praises of God.

Advent is a time for turning back to God. Ask Our Lord to help you regain a voice of faith in order to welcome his birth and spread the Good News.

Readings: Malachi 3:1–4, 23–24; Psalm 25:4–5ab, 8–9, 10, 14; Luke 1:57–66.

Advent, December 22nd

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In today’s Gospel the Blessed Mother reminds us that her story, and ours, is not one of rags to riches, but of rags to redemption. In singing the Magnificat she is rejoicing that the tatters of a world afflicted by sin with no hope of redemption on its own is taking a turn for the better with the coming of John the Baptist and Jesus. In becoming the Mother of God and of the Messiah she is celebrating that Our Lord is visiting his people and blessing the poor and the lowly, like her. The very fact that God chose this poor and humble girl to be his mother shows that wealth and status don’t mean much to him: he is captivated by poverty of spirit and humility, and that pulls down any pretensions the wealthy and mighty have about their merits before God.

Advent is almost over. Mary reminds us today that our cause for rejoicing should not be how many gifts we receive or how many people remember us at Christmas, but how blessed we’ve been by God. We may not have received everything we wanted this year, but Our Lord has blessed us with everything we truly need. Like Mary we should live this time praising God for the wonders he has worked in our lives and show gratitude to others for the gift they’ve been to us.

Elizabeth yesterday tried to tell Mary how great she was; Mary responded not only by saying how great God was (the Magnificat), but by caring for Elizabeth as she prepared for John’s birth, despite the fact that Mary was in her first trimester, characterized by hormonal ups and downs. Let’s imitate the selflessness of the Blessed Mother and serve others even at the expense of our plans or comfort zone.

Readings: 1 Samuel 1:24–28; 1 Samuel 2:2, 4–8ab; Luke 1:46–56.

Advent, December 21st

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In today’s Gospel Elizabeth has just experienced the happiest two trimesters of her life, despite the morning sickness and hormonal somersaults that come with pregnancy. For Israel having children was a sign of God’s favor, and now she was blessed with motherhood after hoping and waiting for so many years. We can assume that Zechariah, in writing, told her about what happened in the Temple, and so she had the added grace of knowing her son would be blessed by God and had an important purpose not only for his family, but for all of Israel.

Yet Zechariah couldn’t have known about the Annunciation: Gabriel said nothing to him about whose son would be the Messiah or the circumstances, only that his son would be the Forerunner. Somehow Elizabeth knows; there’s no account of her receiving a visit from an angel, but Mary finds her full of the Holy Spirit when she comes to visit her and help her in the last months of her pregnancy. It’s safe to guess that the Holy Spirit revealed to her that her cousin Mary would be the mother of the Messiah. The Holy Spirit is also rejoicing, and moving Elizabeth and little John to rejoice as well, because the Spirit knows the world will soon be reconciled to God through the Son and in the power of that same Spirit.

The Holy Spirit has an important role in Advent as well. Let’s call upon the Holy Spirit in these last few days of Advent to fill us with joy through a deeper understanding of the incredible mysteries of God unfolding in these holy days.

Readings: Song of Solomon 2:8–14; Psalm 33:2–3, 11–12, 20–21; Luke 1:39–45. See also 4th Sunday of Advent, Cycle C.

Advent, December 19th

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Israel had a long wait before any novelties in salvation history occurred. After the last prophets in the Old Testament spoke it was a few centuries before the angel Gabriel was sent to John the Baptist’s father in order to announce that John would be the prophet coming just before the Messiah. Zechariah was an observant Jew, following the Law and fulfilling his duties faithfully, but after hoping for a child old age probably convinced him nothing new was forthcoming. His faith was still there, but it was tired. So when the angel Gabriel came and announced not only that he was to have a son, but that his son would be the prophet who’d immediately precede Messiah he responded with a tired and insufficient faith: he asked how an old man could beget a son.

Gabriel’s reaction was almost, “what, an angel of God appearing to you is not enough of a sign?” Zechariah needed “quiet time” to process everything that was happening and to see that what the angel announced would come to pass. Zechariah could represent all of salvation history before that first Advent, religious, waiting, but tired. Every Advent can present that same danger, which is why we need to impose “quiet time” on ourselves to process the incredible mysteries of God that are unfolding in these days: that the Word should become baby and dwell among us, that God would want to live a human life to show his love and solidarity with us, and lay down his life for us.

A lifetime of quiet is not enough to fully fathom that mystery, but if we don’t try then, like Zechariah, we’ll be silent spectators to the incredible things God has planned. Let’s live these last few days of Advent in silent wonder and openness to whatever God wants to announce to us this Christmas season.

Readings: Judges 13:2–7, 24–25a; Psalm 71:3–4a, 5–6ab, 16–17; Luke 1:5–25.

Advent, December 18th

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As part of the last week of Advent the Gospel turns to another important member of the Holy Family, St. Joseph. As the First Reading reminds us today, as well as the lineage recalled yesterday, the Messiah was to be born into the House of David. It is thanks to St. Joseph that it happened. However, as today’s Gospel reminds us, it was not all cut and dry for Joseph; he knew he was not Jesus’ biological father, and that apparently meant adultery on Mary’s part, calling for action to be taken.

The Law was clear on how adulteresses should be treated, but somehow Joseph knew in his heart that he should not expose Mary to cold brutality that the Law apparently condoned in those cases (adulteresses shunned and even stoned). He had a dilemma in his heart and he felt obliged to opt for the Law, but in the most compassionate manner possible: a parting of ways with Mary through a quiet divorce. So God resorted to a channel of communication that hearkened back to the age of the Patriarchs: a dream. Joseph had already intuited in his heart that the raw Law was not the answer, but he hadn’t felt he could go beyond it, just temper it with forgiveness and compassion. In the dream the angel communicated to him that the Holy Spirit itself was responsible for Mary’s pregnancy and that Jesus would be the Messiah. Joseph obeyed and welcomed not only Mary and Jesus into his home, but into the House of David.

If it seems sometimes that God has to resort to a back channel to communicate with us, to lower our resistance in order to speak to us, we must remember that the most fundamental means of communication is love. It doesn’t discard justice; rather, it tempers it and permits space for mercy and compassion. When we don’t understand what Our Lord is asking from us, or why he may have permitted a troubling situation, let’s strive to respond with the same fairness and compassion as St. Joseph. The Lord will make sure his message gets through to us somehow.

Readings: Jeremiah 23:5–8; Psalm 72:1–2, 12–13, 18–19; Matthew 1:18–25.