Homily: Fourth Sunday of Advent (C)
Luke 1:39-45
22 December 2024
Fr. Ricky Cañet Montañez, AA
Last Thursday, after Fr. Steve presided over the PLDM Misa de Gallo as one of its former parish priests, he and I visited an elderly lady who used to be a staunch supporter of the parish projects. She is quite frail already to go to church and so she stays at home all day. In our visit to her, a Visitation-like scene like that of the gospel unfolded. When she saw us, she immediately grabbed each of our hands and said… “Thank you for visiting me. You don’t know how much this means to me. I am joyful beyond measure.”
In the gospel reading, Elizabeth expresses the same words of gratitude and joy as she learns of Mary’s visit. “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” (Luke 1:43-44) Mary sets out from Nazareth in Galilee into the hill country of Judah to visit Elizabeth. She sets out in response to the message of the angel Gabriel that Elizabeth was six months pregnant. Even though she herself was with child, Mary sets out on a journey of love to give support to her older relative.
In one way, it would make sense for Mary to visit Elizabeth, because the younger should visit the older. On the other hand, Elizabeth should be the one to visit, because Mary’s child was a person of such rank and dignity – God’s own Son. In Mary’s gesture of concern for Elizabeth, St. Luke presents some of the characteristics of Jesus’ future life. Here, it is the characteristic of service that he illustrates. Jesus later on will say: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve…” (Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28) Hence, like His mother, He comes to visit His cousin, John, while they are both in their mother’s wombs, rather than wait at home to be visited.
Being available for others like our Blessed Mother Mary, may sound quite simple enough. But we know it is not. These days, we always seem to be overwhelmed with the busyness of our own lives that scheduling time to visit loved ones and friends is never on our list of priorities. This is one of the biggest heartaches of elderly parents whose children already live away from them. This is also how old friends tend to lose touch. Our busyness really does make us less available to others. Even if people want to visit us, many have lost that openness to welcome people to their homes. Our older parishioners may remember a time when friends and family could simply drop by and be assured of a warm welcome and a quick snack. Now, you have to call first because everybody is usually out doing their own thing and only the “kasambahays” are at home. Sometimes we do the next best thing — use social media or technology to keep in touch. However even in this age of instant messaging and video calls, there is something special about making a journey to be physically present for another. It takes a lot of effort on our part these days to just be PRESENT to one other. Note that the other word we use for “gift” is “present”. The best gift we can give one another is our PRESENCE.
Mary goes out of her way to be with Elizabeth whose need is greater than her own. In a very real, physical sense, Mary was bringing the Lord to Elizabeth, because she was carrying Him in her womb. As Christians, because we carry Christ in our hearts, we are all called to bring the Lord to each other by our caring and considerate presence to them. Anytime we set out on a journey towards someone whose need is greater than ours, as Mary did, we are bringing the Lord to them. We may not always know the needs of others, but rest assured, when we are present to and for them, it is the Christ within us who is manifest to them. We become the deliverer of God’s grace and blessing to them.
Let us walk in the footsteps of Our Blessed Mother who lived for others and was always available for them. May God give us eyes to see those in need and courageous hearts to spend our lives in compassionate service to our brothers and sisters and bring the hope of Christ to them this Christmas and beyond.
By: James Janknegt
Sunday Gospel Reflections 