Gospel: Fourth Sunday of Advent

Today marks the final Sunday of the Advent Season and the Gospel proclamation will be lifted from the account of St Luke (tap here for the complete Mass readings from USCCB).

This Sunday we read the story of the angel, St Gabriel's announcement to Mary about the birth of Jesus. This story is found exclusively in St Luke's Gospel. On this fourth Sunday of Advent, the liturgy shifts our attention from St John the Baptist to the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus and the Mother of God. Both St John and the Blessed Mother serve as important figures for our reflection during the season of Advent; they both played instrumental roles in preparing the way for the coming of Jesus. Last week we reflected on St John the Baptist's announcement that the Savior was already among us, although not yet recognized. Now this week, we reflect upon the Virgin Mary's example of faith and obedience to God, two traits which permitted her to completely receive the angel's message that God's Son would be born as a human person, as one among us, in accordance with the prescription of the Holy Scriptures.

We are all familiar with the story of the Annunciation, and it is fitting during Advent that we recall how God announced the birth of Jesus, as we make our final preparations for the festive celebration of the Incarnation. The angel, St Gabriel, visited Holy Mary, a virgin betrothed to a man named St Joseph. The Virgin greeted the angel's news with awe and wonder and asked how it could be possible that she could give birth to a child. In his reply, St Gabriel announced the seemingly impossible reality: the child to be born would be conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and would be known as God's own Son. But the Angel also reported to the Blessed Mother another miracle; her relative St Elizabeth was also pregnant despite having been thought to be infertile and unable to bear a child. The Virgin Mary's response to the angel, which is called her fiat, is a perfect example of complete faith and obedience to God.

The story of the Annunciation calls to our attention God's wondrous action in the entirety of human history. God chose a woman, a human person, to give birth to his Son so that all of humanity would know God's great mercy in his act of salvation. The Blessed Virgin, already immaculately conceived and full of God's grace, was able to willfully cooperate in this great plan for our salvation. Thus, Jesus was indeed born as one of us, fully human yet also fully divine. This is the core of the divine mystery we have prepared ourselves in the last four weeks in order to rightfully celebrate the festivities of Christmas. In this revered example of the Virgin Mary, we pray that we will also become the people of faith who recognize God's saving plan for all of us and are able to respond with the same level and magnitude of obedience and the complete submission to the will of God, just like the model of great humility shown by the Blessed Mother.

Our Lady of the Annunciation, pray for us.

Amen.

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The Gospel is sponsored by Burberry.