Blessed\nfourth Sunday of Advent! A shift of focus in the Mass marks this last step\ntowards the celebration of Christmas. In the previous weeks, the liturgy has\ncentred on the call to repentance and conversion; John the Baptist has been the\ncentral figure and embodiment of this call. Now, in this last week of Advent,\nthe emphasis turns to the mystery of the Annunciation, and it is Mary who takes\ncenter stage. This shift of focus and protagonists does not imply a break.\nInstead, it is a narrowing focus on what this Advent and Christmas seasons are\nall about: the birth of Christ in a manger 2000 years ago and the birth of\nChrist in our hearts today. How do we prepare for this? I want to suggest that\nthe prominent figures of this Advent season, Mary and John the Baptist, would\nindicate humility as the main ingredient of this preparation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\ngospel reading for this Sunday tells the account of the Annunciation. The angel\nGabriel comes to Mary and tells her that she will conceive the Son of God in\nher womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. To preface this amazing news, the\nangel says: “Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found favour with\nGod.” (Lk. 1:30) It is because she has found favour <\/em>with\nGod that she merits to be the Mother of God. But, how exactly has Mary found\nfavour with God? Well, during her visit to her cousin Elizabeth, Mary herself\ntells us how. In the Magnificat, her canticle of praise to God, Mary says:\n“He has looked with favour <\/em>on His lowly servant.”\n(Lk. 1:48) Thus, it is plain that God looks with favour on Mary because\nof her lowliness;<\/em> because of her humility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given\nthat Mary was conceived without sin and is therefore free from its effects, she\nis perfectly humble before God. In other words, she perfectly understands who\nshe is in relation to God and is consequently free from the self-preoccupation\nand self-centeredness that plagues the sinful heart. In short, God finds favour\nin Mary because only in her He sees a heart that is entirely free from self, a\nheart that has made room for Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As\nwe prepare for Christmas, we are bid to make room for the Lord. He yearns to\nfind our hearts ready to welcome Him, and it is thus that we see the\nsignificance of that dominant figure of the past weeks. The Baptist appeared in\nthe desert to prepare a people worthy of the coming Messiah. Prepare the way of\nthe Lord! he cried, and it is no mere coincidence that the way he proposed to\ndo so was also humility. He urged people to repent from their sins and to amend\ntheir lives. In other words, to once again recognize their dependence on God,\nrepent of their self-centred and self-serving ways, and stand in right\nrelationship with Him. In short, to humble themselves before God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are but a few days away from Christmas. Let us take these last days of Advent and prepare. Let us take heed of the Baptist’s words, look to the example of the humble Virgin, and humbly repent of our self-reliance and recognize our dependence on God, so that the child who is to be born on Christmas may also come and take his abode in our hearts and that, with ever more room to dwell.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Santiago Torres<\/strong> \u2013 St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton,\nAlberta<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fot. Maria Oswalt\/Unsplash.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 4th Sunday of Advent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-strona-glowna-najnowsze","category-strona-glowna-slider"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n