Fourth Sunday of Advent Cycle C December 19, 2021
So
image you are sitting at home, minding your own business, as I assume you
always do, when you get a phone call.
And the person calling claims to
be an agent for Adelle, or Samuel L. Jackson, and that this famous personage
wants to come and visit you. When are
you home?
Assuming
you are not like me and respond, “who?
Never heard of them”, but that you actually know who Adelle and Samuel L
Jackson are, how would you feel? You
probably would be in disbelief. Another
scam? But once you became convinced
that this was not some trick, nor a publicity stunt, but that this famous
person really wants to visit you, and specifically you, how would you feel? //
Probably
pretty excited, amazed and elated.
Wouldn’t you? Who am I that
Adelle wants to see me? Who am I that
Samuel L. Jackson wants to visit with me?
That
is what we see happening in our Gospel today to old Elizabeth. Elizabeth, with holy wisdom, sees very
clearly beyond the surface appearances to what is really happening. She states: “How does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
It is,
after all, one thing for a popular entertainer to want to come visit you, but
really another thing all together that the Mother of God wants to come and
visit you. As fantastic as a visit from
Adelle or Samuel L Jackson would be, a visit with Mary, the Mother of God,
Queen of Heaven, would be in an all-together different class.
And
yet, we have that opportunity in prayer.
All we have to do is open our hearts and our minds to prayer, and we can
be present to Mary in the “Hail, Mary”.
The Rosary is a visit with Mary. //
Elizabeth
goes on to state something very important.
“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”
While
Elizabeth speaks this specifically to Mary, I believe that Elizabeth is really
annunciating a general spiritual principal.
“Blessed are you who believe that what was spoken to you
by the Lord will be fulfilled.” Blessed
are you, everyone of us here, who believe. Who believe that what Jesus spoke to us will
be fulfilled. That Jesus will save us
from our sins, from eternal death, from a meaningless, pointless life, and save
us for the fullness of beauty, of truth, of love, of eternal life. Blessed are you who believe that was spoken
to you by the Lord will be fulfilled.
Christmas
is around the corner. We celebrate the
coming to earth of the Christ Child. Not
a movie star nor and entertainer, but the Savior, the very Son of God, comes to
us, and it is fantastic, mind blowing. Jesus
comes to us, and it is wonderful. Truly,
we are blessed!
Come, Lord Jesus!
