Commentary
Sunday, 12/20/2020, Fourth Sunday of Advent
“I Take Care of You” Says the LORD
First Reading Commentary: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a-16
Why do we build magnificent churches and other places of worship? Is it necessary for us to do that for God’s sake? Today we learn that the answer is, “No.”
We build places of worship for our own sake so that we have a place to come together for worship. Some places of worship, especially the older gothic cathedrals for example, are extravagant to the extreme. This is done partially out of respect, partially because we feel that we must give God a home which is fitting for His existence and because we believe that nothing is too good or too big for God.
These reasons are all with good intention but there are four things to consider. 1- God cares more about what is in our hearts than He cares about the physical structures that we build in His honor. 2- We are reminded once again that all that we have comes from God. Therefore, whatever we construct is limited to our human ability. 3- We go into a beautiful church or other place of worship and say, “This is a beautiful church.” But we must remember that God’s Church is the people and not the building which is why God cares more about what is in our hearts. 4- This is the most important thing to consider. We cannot do anything for God because we cannot do anything without God. We do not even exist unless God says so.
None of this means that we should not go out of our way to build beautiful places of worship. God deserves nothing less. We just need to remember that we cannot take care of God—it is God who takes care of us. This is why the LORD told Nathan to say to David, “Thus says the LORD: Should you build me a house to dwell in?” The LORD wanted David to consider what he was doing and wanted David to have the right reason for his actions.
The LORD went on to list some things that He had done for David and the Israelites. It was the LORD who had made David the commander of the people of Israel. The LORD stayed with David destroying his enemies. In other words, the LORD was reminding David that he was who he was because of the LORD.
So, it is with each of us. We are who we are because of God. What we ultimately do with our lives is a result of the decisions that we make by way of our free will. But even our free will is a precious gift from God. Whatever we become in life is a result of how we use the free will that God gave us and that is why we can never blame God when things go wrong.
When we make good choices and things go well for us; we should be thankful to God. When we make mistakes and things go wrong for us; we should still be thankful to God for giving us the freedom to make our own decisions.
Through Nathan, the LORD renewed His promises to David. The LORD promised to make David famous, that the Israelites would have their own land to dwell in, that the wicked would have no power over them and that they would have rest from their enemies. The LORD promised that from David’s loins would come a king who would be the LORD’s Son and that His kingdom would be firm. The LORD also promised that David’s house would endure and stand forever.
Do these promises sound familiar? Jesus is a descendant of David. It is Jesus who prepares our home of rest in heaven and it is His Kingdom that will endure and stand forever. This is the King whose nativity we will celebrate in just a matter of days. It is this King who takes care of us!
More Than Just the Birth of Jesus
Second Reading Commentary: Romans 16:25-27
Paul ends his letter to the Romans giving glory to Jesus Christ who strengthens us. Paul tells us that the proclamation of Jesus Christ is no longer a mystery. By God’s command, the Son has been revealed and He will bring about obedience of faith to the Father.
It is all about faith. We know that Jesus lived on earth. It is with faith that we accept Him as the Christ who came to save us and it is with faith that we are obedient to the Father through the Son. It is because of the Holy Spirit that we have such faith.
In essence, Paul is telling us to give glory to God (The Trinity) because He is everything. The Father with the Son created us. The Father sent the Son to redeem us so that we might be with Him forever in heaven. The Father descends the Spirit upon us to give us everything that we need to follow the way of the Son so that we can reach the Father.
We are nothing without God. In fact, we only exist because of God. We cannot enjoy eternal life without God. In fact, we can do nothing without God.
Jesus Christ is God the Son. Therefore, as we celebrate the Nativity, let us remember that we are truly celebrating God taking on the very humanity that He created for our sakes.
Hail Full of Grace! The Lord Is with You
Gospel Commentary: Luke 1:26-38
We hear the account of the Annunciation several times during Advent. Ever wonder why? Is it because Mary was blessed to be born without original sin? That is true but that is not why Gabriel was sent to visit Mary. Is it because Mary was chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus? That is true and no doubt, that is part of the reason. But I believe that the main reason is because of Mary’s reaction to the God’s request. God knew that Mary above all others would say, “Yes.” And so, we hear the story again.
Gabriel appeared to Mary and said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled and wondered what sort of greeting this might be. What made Gabriel’s greeting troubling for Mary? It was her humility. Why would she, in her lowliness, be given such praise? This was her question and cause for concern.
So, Gabriel told Mary not to be afraid because she was in God’s favor. Gabriel told Mary that she would conceive and bear a son who would be named Jesus and be called Son of the Most High. This Son would be given the throne of David and rule over the house of Jacob and there would be no end to His Kingdom.
This is the fulfillment of the promise made by the LORD to David through Nathan in today’s first reading from 2 Samuel 7. It is the First Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, the Annunciation. But because Mary was a virgin, she was confused and wondered how this could be. So, she asked Gabriel how this could be.
Gabriel told Mary that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and that the power of the Most High would overshadow her and therefore the child would be called holy, the Son of God. Then Gabriel gave Mary a sign. He told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth, who was beyond child bearing years, was with child and in her sixth month. Gabriel then told Mary that nothing was impossible for God.
Mary’s becoming the mother of Jesus and her cousin Elizabeth being with child was news to Mary. God’s ability to do anything was not news to Mary because she was a woman of great faith. So, she responded, “I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Mary made herself available to God’s Will and surrendered herself totally and completely to be used by God in whatever way that He so wished.
I consider this to be the greatest “yes” of all time. Even though, it was the Father’s plan from the beginning in Genesis 3:15, Mary had to say, "Yes" or Christ would not have been born. In addition, Mary had to open her heart to receiving the Holy Spirit.
You may ask, if it was God’s plan, why did Mary, have to say, "Yes." Mary is unique because she was born without original sin, but she is just like the rest of us because like us, she had a free will and it was in her free will, that she said, "Yes."
Did Mary know what she was getting herself into when she agreed to be the mother of Jesus? Did she know the pain that would come to her by watching her Son die on the Cross? More importantly, did she even stop to think about what would happen? Did Mary even care?
I believe that the answer is no to all of these questions, especially the last one. Mary did not have time to care because she had too much faith in God. She did not have a worry in the world. God asked, and because of her faith in God; Mary said, "Yes."
There was another great yes before Mary’s. It came when Abraham agreed to sacrifice his son and Abraham was rewarded beyond measure by God. One of those rewards was Jesus being a descendant of Abraham. There was another great yes after Mary’s. It came when the Son said, "yes" to the Father and carried out the Father's Will by going to the cross.
Now there must be another yes which has to come from you and me. We have to say, "Yes" in order to enter into the Kingdom. When we do that, the Father’s plan will be completed, one person at a time.
There is no better place to be and no better company to be with than with those who are in heaven. Do you say, “Yes”? Or, I could consider the name Emmanuel and ask, God is with us but are we with God?
