Fourth Sunday of Advent. Year C - Sunday, December 19, 2021
(EPISODE: 339)
Readings for Sunday, December 19, 2021 - Fourth Sunday of Advent. Year C
FIRST READING: Micah 5:2-5a
Psalm 80:1ab+2, 14-15, 17-18. "Lord make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved"
SECOND READING: Hebrews 10:5-10
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Luke 1:39-45). Alleluia, alleluia! I am the servant of the Lord. May his will for me be done.
GOSPEL: Luke 1:39-45
Image Credit: Shutterstock Licensed. Item ID: 1158840967 PARIS, FRANCE - JANUARY 05: Visitation of the Virgin, stained glass window in the Basilica of Saint Clotilde in Paris, France on January 05, 2018. Artist: Zvonimir Atletic
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Please listen to the audio-recordings of the Mass – (Readings, prayers and homily), for Fourth Sunday of Advent. Year C - Sunday, December 19, 2021 by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/advent-4c-faith-hope-and-love-ep-339?si=0a2b3e27cfdb48bbbe240822881d7bb0&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing (EPISODE: 339)
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*Prologue (Fr Paul Kelly)
"Yes, truly blessed is she who believed that the promise made to her by the Lord would be fulfilled" – And blessed are we when we hope and trust and believe that the lord will be faithful to us and fulfil the promises made to us.
Mary and Elizabeth meet and an unspoken bond is formed,
Born of their shared condition – they each are expecting a baby.
They know that they cannot face this alone,
and they also know that God has no intention of letting them face this alone.
God is with them.
This "yes" from these ladies, will need an ongoing commitment, care, time, and the grace of God!
They KNOW that they are God's partners in bringing to birth, hope and life !! (A)
This truly beautiful gospel passage today illustrates the importance of giving thanks and of explicitly naming our blessings.
I remember hearing story about a man who would always write down the significant things that happened to him… he had two methods of writing these events down….. he would "write in the sand a list of all hurts that he received," but he would also "carv in stone all the blessings he received." When he was asked why he did this, he said: "I inscribe the hurts and wrongs in sand, so that the winds of forgiveness and love can erase them after a time. But (just as importantly)..I remember to carve all my blessings and graces in stone, so that time, busyness, and even misfortune or circumstance will be unable to erase those memories!" /// Carving our blessings in stone…..serves as a constant reminder to us of all the things for which we are eternally grateful.
"why do I suspect that for many of us, (myself included), we do things the wrong way around. -- Writing the countless acts of kindness, love; generosity and grace on the shifting sands of our memories, whilst carving in stone the hurts and grudges, bad memories and misfortunes and the list of our own (and others) sins and weaknesses.
// And does that do any good????
The Blessed Virgin Mary, and Saint Elizabeth are both wonderful examples of faithful discipleship. They notice the graciousness of God happening all around them and within them. They both delight inpraising God, and in thanksgiving, and make a deliberate decision (and choice) to name the blessings of God and to give voice to the presence of God - It is a truly inspiring moment. A moment of true and abiding praise and thanksgiving.
The other thing that strikes me about this well-known passage of Scripture is the importance of family, including extended family (our family of faith, our parish, our friends, our colleagues, and our wider community).
The Virgin Mary must have been daunted and filled with awe, by what she knew was happening to her. Not everyone would understand what God was doing in her life // and not everyone would be happy. Certainly, not everyone would have goodwill towards her and assume that the Holy Spirit was at work in this extraordinary event.
Mary went to visit Elizabeth. Together, they meet in great joy and affection, and gain enormous support from each other. How very important is the support and encouragement we give to one another in times of joy and also times of trial.
This weekend, as Advent comes so quickly to a close, let us take some time to carve a few things in stone. Let us look back. Who are some of the people we need to give thanks for from this past year, (and all past years)? Let us recall in our hearts the acts of kindness and love that so many people have shown us daily. Who are the people through whom we have experienced Christ's graced presence, love, compassion, mercy and grace? Let us remember and give thanks for these people and these blessings in our hearts, minds, and show this gratitude in all our words and actions.
And let us "Take time to be aware that in the very midst of our busy preparations for the celebration of Christ's birth in ancient Bethlehem, Christ is reborn in the "Bethlehem's" of our homes and daily lives. Let us take time, slow down, be still, be awake to the Divine Mystery that looks so common and so ordinary yet is wondrously present". (Edward Hays)
Let us seek out people like Elizabeth, who have grateful, remembering hearts; and who focus on the positives and show us the world in its goodness for us to build our lives upon. people who do not dwell on negatives, and who do not get us more and more upset and downcast by focusing on all that is wrong. .
Let us be attentive to the ways in which God is present to us, especially God's abiding presence and action, in the people with whom we socialize, work and live.
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Homily (Fr Peter Dillon)
I was once fortunate to be able to spend December in a country that thinks it really invented Christmas, the United States of America. While I'm sure that is not the case, I'm fairly certain they invented Christmas decorations, fairy lights and high calorie festive food. These reminders of the season are to be found everywhere and there is no escaping that this is a joyful time.
Amid all the hype of Christmas in America I'm not sure they or us use the beautiful word that is so connected with today's Gospel. "Blessed"
You could really say that the central theme of this very human tale of the visit of Mary and Elizabeth is the blessedness, the joy, the peace of those who believe. All Jesus' preaching had as its aim to elicit faith in people's hearts, however it is not simply a matter of believing, but of acting on that belief. It is a question of hearing the word and doing it – taking risks on it, and making sacrifices because of it.
As the spiritual writer Catherine de Hueck Doherty wrote:
"Don't bother proclaiming that you believe if you don't act accordingly"
You might hear people say "it's easy for people who have been given a deep faith to deal with life's difficulties", but we all know that faith doesn't make things easy. In fact the opposite is quite often the case. It is because we have faith that we refuse to give up. Faith impels us to persevere, to struggle on, often with no guarantee of a happy outcome.
The encounter of Mary and Elizabeth in Luke presents the Church in miniature. Two people gathered in faith, hope and love, united by the Spirit, the Lord present in their midst. Instead of fearing the unknown and uncertainty of the future, the result here is joy. Advent ends with Elizabeth's proclamation: 'Blessed are those who believe that the promise made in the Lord will be fulfilled'. There is that word – blessed.
This meeting also highlights the joy to be found in little things, things that we might take for granted. Christmas is advertised as big, glossy, expensive but the Scriptures provides us with the context of little, weak, seemingly insignificant people, essential components of God's plan. This simple meeting of two women may not be an event surrounded by feasting, bright lights and expensive gifts, but it about families gathering, songs to be sung and stories to be told and good news shared.
Mary is blessed not only because she believed, but because she immediately acted on that belief. St Augustine said that Mary's true greatness was not that she was the Mother of God, but that she was the servant of God. Her obedience to Gabriel's request was not blind, but it was an obedience based on trust in the fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy of a saviour and Micah's instruction that out of the clans of Judah one will be born who will rule over Israel.
It has been suggested that Mary fled to Elizabeth to check that what she had heard was not a dream, that she wasn't crazy, but I detect a real joy and anticipation in Luke's account of the event. I think she made the dangerous journey of some ninety miles to the house of Zechariah to share her news with the one person who could understand both her excitement and her unselfish acceptance.
As uncertain as her future was, she said a clear 'yes' to her faith and God and acted on it. She was neither a theologian nor a teacher. She believed herself to be a young peasant girl of no particular strength or skill. She didn't ask why, but rather how can this happen? How can I do what you have asked?
She was to be surprised by what God could do with her obedience.
Because of that obedience we are given a chance to respond to a similar invitation to bear Christ to others, but first let us prepare fully for the invitation to be made yet again.
Children, Santa, presents, Christmas bonuses, family reunions, better days ahead, peace in our time. Like no other day Christmas has a way of building up expectations. But it can be over in a flash and we fall back into our daily routines. Ours is a faith which says 'and there is more', rise above the ordinary, risk your life in the cause of 'what could be'. As Paul says: 'the old has passed away, behold the new'.
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References:
prologue by Fr Paul W. Kelly
(A) Alice Camille, 2009: A Book of Grace-filled Days).
Homily by fr peter Dillon
Image Credit: Shutterstock Licensed. Item ID: 1158840967 PARIS, FRANCE - JANUARY 05: Visitation of the Virgin, stained glass window in the Basilica of Saint Clotilde in Paris, France on January 05, 2018. Artist: Zvonimir Atletic
Fourth Sunday of Advent. Year C (Sunday, December 19, 2021) (EPISODE: )
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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{{Peace and greetings to you all.}}
INTRODUCTION
In the Name of the Father (+) and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
We continue on our Advent journey. We now light the fourth Advent Candle. The "Angel's Candle" Reminding us of the message of the angels: "Peace on earth, to people of goodwill. .
(The Presider/helper, lights the fourth candle)
O Rising Sun, you are the splendour of eternal light and the sun of justice. O come and enlighten those who yearn for you. Lord Have mercy.
O King of all, Come and save humanity, whom you formed from the clay. Christ Have mercy.
O Immanuel, Lord our God, Come and save us. Lord Have mercy.
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(no Gloria in Advent)
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Psalm 80:1ab+2, 14-15, 17-18. "Lord make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved"
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Luke 1:39-45). Alleluia, alleluia! I am the servant of the Lord. May his will for me be done.
Memorial Acclamation
1. We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again.
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PREFACE: Advent II
EP II
Communion side. pwk: RH
(theme variation: v3 )
(pre+post variation: v2-lonjg)
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{Thank you for giving generously of your time and prayer.}
Go in peace.(glorifying the Lord by your life)
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Archive of homilies and reflections: homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email: paulwkelly68@gmail.com
To listen to my weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here.
NB - It is often a week or so Ahead: soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks
You are welcome to subscribe to Fr Paul's homily mail-out by sending an email to this address: paulkellyreflections+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection " - Led by Rev Paul Kelly
"O Come. Lord. (Advent) " - In Memory of Paolo Mario (Paul) Giacomantonio (1968-2020).
By Paul W. Kelly. Based on the Ancient church "O Antiphons " of Advent.
Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics, By Stefan Kelk, 2020.
[ Production - KER - 2021]
May God bless and keep you.
{extra text : unspoken for Advent -
Roman Missal, 3rd edition, 2010, (ICEL)
Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, and 2009 by the NCC-USA.
"The Psalms " by The Grail - 1963, 2009.
Prayers of the Faithful - Robert Borg "Together we pray " - (1993) }
Sound Engineering and editing - P.W. Kelly.
Microphones: - SHURE MOTIV MV5
Editing equipment: NCH software - MixPad Multitrack Studio Recording Software
NCH – WavePad Audio Editing Software. Masters Edition v 12.44
Sound Processing: iZotope RX 6 Audio Editor
[ Production - KER - 2021]
May God bless and keep you.
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