Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year B

2 Samuel 7:1-11,16

Rom 16:25-27

Luke 1:26-38

In the first reading (2 Sam 7), David the great, great grandfather of Jesus, after he had fought and consolidated power in Jerusalem, had wanted to build a house for the Lord, where he could place the Ark of the Covenant, a physical divine presence in the community. David went to bed. But that night, as God would do His things mysteriously, he reverses David’s plan through Nathan, the prophet. God would rather build a house for David. He promised David, an everlasting dynasty. Note, an everlasting dynasty here, is much more than a physical house.

It is an everlasting promise of love, kindness, peace, joy, goodness, good-health of mind and body, faithfulness, acknowledged in the responsorial psalm of today; “forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord… the promise of the lord I will sing forever”!

 In the 2^nd reading, Romans 16, Saint Paul testifies to the fulfillment of this promise in the person of Christ, whose Gospel he preaches. Paul says, “to him who can strengthen you, according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of
the mystery kept secret for long ages, but now manifested through the prophetic writings, and according to the command of eternal God..” (Rom 16:25-27).

 The Gospel makes it clearer that those promises made us in the beginning through David would be fulfilled, through Mary!  A young Jewish woman, betrothed to Joseph, still a virgin, is miraculously visited by the Angel Gabriel, who promised her a child: “behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus” Mary said how can this be since I am still a virgin? The Angel explains to her that “God is in control,” the story we are familiar with.  At the end of her encounter with the  Angel, Mary humbly surrenders herself  to the divine providence, saying, “I am the Handmaid of the Lord (your servant) be it done to me according to your word.”

Sometimes we think that the difference between Mary and us is that she was chosen while we are not. But that is not true.  The difference is that she fully responded to be chosen for her role while we remain hesitant and half hearted about responding to what God asks of us.  God has chosen all of us.  This great truth was expressed by St.  Paul when he wrote: “God chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless and to live through love in his presence” (Eph.1).

When Mary was called she believed but when we are called we cling to our reason and refuse to take the risk involved in faith.  The story is told of a man who was dangerously hanging unto a single branch on the top of a tree from where he could not climb down.  He cried out to God.  “Oh God save me; you know I believe in you.  All that I ask of you is to save me and I shall proclaim your name to the ends of the earth.”  Very well, said the voice of God, I shall save you.  Let go of that branch.  The man yelled out, “let go of this branch?” Do you think I am crazy?  That is how most of us adamantly cling to our reason even if God calls.  We have a lot to learn from the response of Mary.

In the Angel’s word to Mary we hear that the holy offspring to be born will be called Son of God because “the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”  The word “overshadow” is an important word in this sentence.  It is a word, which is rarely used in the Bible.  In fact, we find it in only one place in the Bible: in the Book of Exodus.  There, it describes the mysterious cloud that “overshadowed” or covered the tent in which Israel kept the Ark of the Covenant.  Exodus 40.34 says that as soon as the cloud overshadowed the tent, “the Lord’s presence filled it.”

It is this rare word that Luke chooses in the Gospel passage proposed for our meditation this Sunday.  In choosing it, he compares Mary’s body to the tent in which the ark was kept.  He compares Mary’s womb, in which Jesus is to be housed, to the ark in which the tablets of the Ten Commandments were housed.  Therefore, when God’s power overshadowed Mary, the “Lord’s presence filled her.” The Lord’s presence in Mary is the flesh-and-blood presence of Jesus.

When we look at the sentence following the angel’s reference to God’s power overshadowing Mary, it says “Know that Elizabeth, your kinswoman, has conceived a son in her old age; she who was thought to be sterile is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible with God.”  The important words in this sentence are the words “nothing is impossible with God.”  How beautifully today’s Gospel illustrates this “nothing is impossible with God.”  Before God overshadowed Mary, the world had no hope.  Sin and violence were everywhere.  Before God’s power overshadowed Mary, she had no hope of bearing a child.  She was a virgin.  Before God’s power overshadowed Elizabeth, she too had no hope of giving birth. She was old and sterile.  And finally, before god’s power overshadowed Mary, the human race and no hope of salvation.  It was held in slavery by Satan. The poser of God overshadowed Mary and changed all that.

What does this mean to us today?  It means that our world may be messed up, our family may be messed up, our own lives may be messed up but there is hope, because God’s power, in the person of Jesus, has entered our world.

 Granted that the spirit of Advent reminds us of the need to be close to Mary during this time when she is carrying her child, Jesus; Mary, like David is a good example to us in many ways; especially to us today, who have heard this story over and over again. She is an example of an ideal disciple.  We can think of our Christian life as a longer Advent. Mary is a disciple, willing to love, willing to forgive, willing to serve.  She is a gift to us. She becomes that simple vehicle through which historic royal theology and God’s mysteries and promises are fulfilled in Christ, come Christmas.

 She listens and accepts the message of the Angel Gabriel sent by God. She dialogues freely with Gabriel. She is not violent. She is not argumentative, but ponders. She is reflective. She is not arrogant. She does not claim to know more than God and the Angel. She is opened to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, over the mysteries of the one who will rule over the house of David. Even though David had plans to build a house for the Lord, eventually built by his son, Solomon, David lived through the mysteries of God communicated to him through Nathan!

 David, and especially Mary, I believe are great examples of how we can, in our different life-situations, respond to God’s mysteries and divine command.  David was attentive to Prophet Nathan. He gave up his plan of building a physical house. Mary on the other hand responded with complete humility, trust and faith in whatever God had in stock for her. How we respond to Scriptures, what the Church teaches, our parents, teachers and God-fearing leaders, counts.

 Our Christian life, sometimes could be seen as a longer Advent, hoping and trusting, all the way, in the promises made to  us by the Lord. Even though we may have our own plans, Advent, particularly the Bible Lessons of today allow us to follow God's final plan. Therefore, as Christmas approaches, we are invited to imitate Mary’s gifts, and renew our trust in the Lord. We are invited to contemplate the virtues of Mary, her dialogue and reactions to Angel Gabriel. We are encouraged to  make our homes, churches, dioceses,  schools, seminaries, religious communities, offices, places of work “Schools of Mary” and “Colleges of Virtues”, where we  sing God’s promises, and trust  at all times in the love, joy, security, and peace which the Lord had promised  us, in the beginning, since the time of David.

As we wait for the coming of our Saviour into our hearts in few days, it will be very appropriate for us to put into focus all that we have been told in the preceding Sundays of Advent bothering on preparation, active and joyful waiting and creating room for him in our hearts. The message of advent among other things is challenging us to respond to God’s selection of your heart and mine as the birthplaces of our Saviour. David responded with a yes by kneeling before Samuel to be anointed. Mary responded with a very resounding “let it be done to me as you have said”. What would be your own response?