Sunday, December 22nd, 2024 – Fourth Sunday of Advent - Cycle C Readings: Micah 5:1-4a, Psalm 80 “ Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved”, He-brews 10:5-10, Luke 1:39-45

                                                 THE CRIB IS READY
 
     Let us focus our attention on the mystery of Bethlehem and contemplate the Child who comes to save us. Let us dare to enter into the soul of Jesus into the womb of Mary and listen to his offering to the Father: “Here I am, I come to do your will.” His mission is clear. The scene of Mary’s visitation to her cousin Saint Elizabeth should prepare our hearts so that we may live this Christmas with a spirit of gratitude and admiration.
 
Sisters and brothers:
 
1. In our Christian homes today there is an air of expectation that is typical of great events. The wait becomes warm and an aura of poetry begins to envelop everything. However, this is not the case everywhere. For some, unfortunately, everything will remain as it is: blinking colored lights, artificial pine trees loaded with gifts, tambourines and fan-fares. Many will live these last hours distracted by the nervousness of the rush for the purchases that still need to be made.
 
2. Christmas will always be the celebration of the simple and the rescue of the poor. This Child who is born in Bethlehem is the same one who will later give himself for the salvation of humanity. It is a divine gesture that can only be perceived in prayer and inner contemplation. The Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem has only one entrance door, so low that one cannot pass through it without bending deeply. This contains a spiritual truth: reminding pilgrims that in order to penetrate the profound meaning of Christmas it is necessary to make oneself small.
 
3. This Sunday is eminently Marian. We contemplate the position of Mary, who becomes the slave of the Lord in the Incarnation and the servant of men in the Visitation. Through her faith, the Virgin of Nazareth has become blessed and all generations recognize her as the Mother of believers. St. Augustine does not hesitate to affirm that Mary, through her faith, conceived Jesus first in her heart than in her virginal womb. Through faith, God also enters our lives and is with us.
 
4. Today Christ accomplishes the mystery of the Incarnation in all those who, like Mary, open their hearts to him without putting obstacles in the way of his grace. The more we act as slaves of the Lord, the more fruitful will be the redemption accomplished in us and by us. Mary, one of the most relevant figures of Advent, is the path that God has chosen to draw near to us and may very well be the path that brings us closer to God. May the flares or the hustle and bustle of our streets not distract us from contemplating the mystery of the birth of the Son of God.
 
 
Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests