By Deacon Richard Hay
“Preparing for the good news…”
Last week, I had the opportunity to preach for the Third Sunday in Advent about being able to rejoice and be joyful about the first coming of Christ at Christmas while in the midst of our Advent preparations.
The Fourth Sunday of Advent is now here and as we talked about last week, in less than a day, we will begin our celebration of Christ’s birth as the Christmas season begins.
We are truly blessed to have had the time to focus on preparing our minds and souls for the Nativity of our Lord. I also know that excitement about Christmas has continued to build within our hearts, around our families, and here in our local church.
Whether Advent is a full four weeks long, or just three weeks as it is this year, no matter what is on the calendar, the final seven days of Advent, from December 17th until Christmas Eve on the 24th, always shifts into a very particular sequence of gospel readings in the daily mass along with the use of what are called the “O” antiphons which are said prior to the proclamation of the gospels and during the prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours. These “O” antiphons have two key elements, first is a title that refers to Jesus and a role in our lives as our Savior. The second half comes from the prophet Isaiah to help us recall the life and ministry of Christ and how he lived out that role. As I share these antiphons in my homily, I encourage you to listen for those two elements in each one.
We begin back on Monday of this week where we hear the first of three annunciations. The first one is when Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant and rather than exposing her to shame, had decided to divorce her quietly. It is after that when he is visited by an angel of the Lord in a dream and told to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife because she had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and that son would be holy and he was to be named Jesus. After the dream, Joseph did as he had been told by the angel and took Mary into his home. After the annunciation to Joseph by the angel, he said yes to his role in salvation history as the foster father of Jesus.
The “O” antiphon for this day was “O leader of the House of Israel, giver of the law to Moses on Sinai; come to rescue us with your mighty power.”
On Tuesday, we hear the second of our three annunciations – this one was to Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth, and he would be the father of John the Baptist. He was also visited by an angel of the Lord. Once Zechariah was given the message about John’s birth, he replied by asking – “How shall I know this?” – despite having just been told by the angel what would happen. As a result, his voice was taken away and he was made speechless.
The “O” antiphon on this day was “O root of Jesse’s stem, sign of God’s love for all his people: come to save us without delay!”
Then on Wednesday, just as we heard in today’s gospel, we hear Gabriel’s announcement to Mary and how she found favor with God and would conceive and bear a son who was to be named Jesus. This is the annunciation we are more familiar with compared to those received by Joseph and Zechariah. She also replied with a question – “How can this be?” and the angel went on to explain how Jesus would be conceived through the Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High which would overshadow her.
After this, Mary replied with her Yes to being chosen – to being set aside as the Mother of God. “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
Two yes’s and one no, at least initially, in these three annunciations to Mary, Joseph, and Zechariah. Ever wonder why Zechariah was made mute in his response though?
As I prayed and reflected on these two parts of Luke’s scripture, I heard Zechariah’s response as more of a challenge to the angel, while Mary’s was open, accepting, asking for understanding. Maybe the difference was that Mary was immaculately conceived without original sin while Zechariah had to live with the effects of original sin and therefore had doubts.
The blessing we are graced with in our lives is that through our baptisms, no matter what age we were baptized at, we are made clean from original sin so that we can be more open to God when he calls us to fulfill our own vocations.
“O Key of David, opening the gates of God’s eternal kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness!” was the “O” Antiphon that preceded this gospel.
Moving into Thursday, we heard the next stage of Mary’s journey toward giving birth to Jesus when she travels to the hill country to visit her cousin Elizabeth who is pregnant with John the Baptist. In this gospel, we hear Elizabeth exclaim at the sound of Mary’s greeting – “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Elizabeth goes on to share that the infant in her own womb leaped for joy when she heard that greeting from the mother of her Lord.
This gospel was preceded by the antiphon “O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law: come to save us, Lord our God!”
As we reached Friday of this past week, we head into the gospel proclaiming, “O King of all nations, and keystone of the Church: come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!”.
The Gospel is part of that beautiful exchange between Mary and Elizabeth we know as the Magnificat. It states all these different ways that God not only blesses Mary but how he will and has kept his promise of mercy to all of us, his children forever.
On Saturday, we heard the gospel about the birth of John the Baptist and how Zechariah did get his voice back after John’s birth, once he declared that the name of his son would be John – once he accepted the calling of God which came through the angel Gabriel. Zechariah’s challenge became belief and God rewarded him.
Our last “O” antiphon of these final days of our Advent preparations is the same one from Friday – “O King of all nations and keystone of the Church: come and save man whom you formed from the dust!”
On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, our gospel is once again the annunciation to Mary about the birth of Jesus. We have returned nearly full circle to Mary’s yes and her trust in the Lord in these final days of Advent.
As we move into the Christmas season from our Advent preparations, I hope and pray every one of our souls’ will leap for joy each time we approach and receive Jesus’s body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Most Holy Eucharist – his True Presence – which came about because he was first born and became man as an infant laying in a manger.
I also encourage all of us to carry Mary’s yes with us into the Christmas season and beyond as we fulfill that special and unique vocation the Lord has for each of us.
“O King of all nations, and keystone of the Church: come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!”.
