For your reading, reflection, faith-sharing, comments, questions, discussion.

Alleluia Ping!

Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Alleluia Ping List.

The Christmas Novena

Today is Day Six of the Christmas Novena.

Ego Cras (Anagram of the Messianic Titles of Christ in the "O" Antiphons)

Praying with the "O" Antiphons

The 'O' Antiphons -- Prayer Activity for Families

O Antiphons -- Scriptural Detail of these Advent prayers

The Great Advent Antiphons

What are the “O Antiphons”?

Advent Reflections for 2008

History and Symbolism of the Advent Wreath

Rediscovering Advent in the (St.) Nick of Time
Catholic Traditions for Advent and Christmas
Mary's Gift of Self Points the Way, "The Blessed Mother and Advent", Part 1 of 4
The Perfect Faith of the Blessed Virgin "The Blessed Mother and Advent", Part 2 of 4
Theotokos sums up all that Mary is: "The Blessed Mother and Advent", Part 3 of 4

Reclaiming the Mystery of Advent, Part One: The Meaning of Advent
Renewing the Mystery of Advent, Part Two: The Witness of John the Baptist
Why “Gaudete?”, Part Three (Third Sunday of Advent)
Sunday before Nativity
Holy Mary and the Death of Sin - "The Blessed Mother and Advent", Part 4 of 4

Catholic Liturgy - Rose-Colored Vestments on Gaudete Sunday
Advent through Christmas -- 2007
Immaculate Conception Novena -- starts November 30th [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Advent 2007 -- Day by Day
Making Advent a Reality (the seasons are out of whack)

The Advent Workshop -- lots of information and activities
Jesse Trees (genealogy of Jesus activity for families)
Advent Wreath & Candles (Prayers for the Family)
Advent Overview
Reclaiming the Mystery of Advent, Part One: The Meaning of Advent

Celebrating Christ’s Advent [Archbishop Raymond Burke]
Praying through Advent -- 2006
The Paradox of Advent
Experience the Joy of Advent
Advent: the Reason for the Season

The Advent Wreath
Advent Activity - The Jesse Tree
That incredible shrinking Advent-Christmas season (Christmas should start, not end, Dec. 25)
Advent Thoughts: Some of the Church Fathers on the Divinity of Christ
The Relationship Between Advent and the Change in the Seasons (Dom Guéranger)

Pray a Rosary each day for our nation.

Pray the Rosary

Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Apostles Creed: I BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. >From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Lord's Prayer: OUR Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary: HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. (Three times)

Glory Be: GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Fatima Prayer: Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.

The Mysteries of the Rosary

By tradition, Catholics meditate on these Mysteries during prayers of the Rosary.
The biblical references follow each of the Mysteries below.

The Glorious Mysteries
(Wednesdays and Sundays)
1.The Resurrection (Matthew 28:1-8, Mark 16:1-18, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-29) [Spiritual fruit - Faith]
2. The Ascension (Mark 16:19-20, Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:6-11) [Spiritual fruit - Christian Hope]
3. The Descent of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:1-13) [Spiritual fruit - Gifts of the Holy Spirit]
4. The Assumption [Spiritual fruit - To Jesus through Mary]
5. The Coronation [Spiritual fruit - Grace of Final Perseverance]

Could you please add the following words after the date:

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Thanks so much.

And an early Merry Christmas.

~ PRAYER ~

St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle
Be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the devil;
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
Thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits
who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
+

DECEMBER 2008

General:
That in the face of a spreading of a culture of violence and death the Church through her apostolic and missionary activity may promote with courage the culture of life.

Mission:
That especially in mission countries Christians may show with acts of fraternal love that the Child born in the stable at Bethlehem is the luminous Hope of the world..

From: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16

Nathan’s Prophecy About the Dynasty

[1] Now when the king dwelt in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from
all his enemies round about, [2] the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now,
I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” [3] And Nathan
said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart; for the Lord is with you.”

[4] But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, [5] “Go and tell my
servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? [8b]
I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince
over my people Israel; [9] and I have been with you wherever you went, and hav
cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name,
like the name of the great ones of the earth. [10] And I will appoint a place for my
people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be
disturbed no more; and violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, [11]
from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you
rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will
make you a house. [12] When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your
fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your
body, and I will establish his kingdom. [14a] I will be his father, and he shall be
my son. [16] And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever be-
fore me; your throne shall be established for ever.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

7:1-17. Nathan is a court prophet who will also appear in later accounts connec-
ted with Solomon and Bathsheba, his mother (cf. 2 Sam 12:1-25 and 1 Kings
1:11-40). As prophet he is God’s spokesman (he twice uses the classic formula-
tion, “Thus says the Lord”: vv. 5 and 8); here he has to oppose the king’s plans
(vv. 5-7); he proclaims a message which cannot but have its effect on the listener
because the word of God is true and it always comes to pass.

Nathan’s prophecy is particularly important: it decides who will succeed David,
and it has to do with the Messiah, who will be a descendant of David. What he
says has all the formality of an oracular statement; it confirms the dynastic suc-
cession and specifies the role of the temple among God’s chosen people.

For pagan peoples (Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian etc.) the temple was the
center of their world and the focus of their religious spirit; it was there that they
kept their gods. In Israel, on the other hand, the temple will have quite a different
role. It is based on the fact that the true God is not content with a temple; he
has no need of a house in which to dwell (cf. 1 Kings 8:27). If he allows there
to be sanctuaries or shrines (cf. Gen 28:20-22), the desert tabernacle or tent (cf.
Ex 33:7-11) and later the temple of Jerusalem (cf. I Kings 8:1-66), these are only
signs of his presence among the people, not a habitation that he in any sense
needs. Nathan’s prophecy shows that it is not so much the temple as the Davi-
dic dynasty that is the sign of divine presence and protection that God has set
up from the start. Hence the play on words between “house of God” (temple)
and “house of David” (dynasty).

The hereditary monarchy, then, is the center of Nathan’s prophecy. If Michal’s
sterility cut off the line of succession from Saul, the prophecy assured that
David’s line would endure. From central part of the prophecy (vv. 13-16) we can
see that every descendant of David, the figure of the future Messiah, will have
the following qualities:

a) He will be a son to God (v. 14a). This is not natural, human, sonship; it refers
to the closeness of the relationship between God and the king (cf. Ps 2:7; 89:
26-27), so that the person and rule of the king will symbolize the presence of God
and the active role he plays in the life of the people. The king’s sonship to God,
then, is an expression of the covenant established between God and David’s line.
God commits himself to act towards king as a good father to his son. Jesus will
bring these words and this covenant to full fruition, for he is the “eternal Son of
God” made man (cf. Gal 4:4). Whereas he is the Son of God by natural genera-
tion, all the baptized are “sons in the Son”: “For this is the very reason why the
Word became flesh, why the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man,
by entering into communion with the Word and thereby partaking of divine filia-
tion, might be converted into a son of God” (St Irenaeus, “Adversus Haereses”,
3, 19, 1; cf. “Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 460).

b) He will be punished when necessary, but the punishment will be only tempo-
rary (14b-15), that is, David’s line will not be cut off as happened to Saul, nor will
any dethronement last, because the love of God will always win out. In the light
of this oracular statement, any misfortunes of the people, even the exile in Baby-
lon, despite being punishment for their sins, will be above all a proof of God’s
mercy. The death of Jesus on the cross, though caused by the sins of men is
above all a proof of the love of God who gave up his Son (cf. Rom 8:32), and of
the love of Jesus who gave himself up on men’s behalf (cf. Rom 4:25; Eph 5:25).

c) The Davidic dynasty will endure forever (vv. 12-13, 15-16). The title “son of Da-
vid” will refer not only to genealogical descent but also to the fact that the holder
is the beneficiary of this promise and of the Davidic covenant (cf. 1 Kings 8:25;
Ps 132:10-18; Jer 17:24-27; Ezek 34:23-24; etc.). After the exile this is the title
which is most often applied to the Messiah, and the writers of the New Testa-
ment, of course, are at pains to point out that Jesus is the “son of David” (cf. Mt
1:1; 9:27; Rom 1:3). The liturgy of the Solemnity of St Joseph, Husband of the
Blessed Virgin, includes this text, because it is he who is the guarantor of the
Davidic descent of Jesus (Mt 1:20) through being “of the house of David” (Lk
1:27).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Romans 16:3-9, 16, 22-27

Doxology

[25] Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the
preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was
kept secret for long ages [26] but is now disclosed and through the prophetic
writings is made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal
God, to bring about the obedience of faith—[27] to the only wise God be glory for
evermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

25-27. Unlike other letters, this one ends with an elaborate poem of praise, or
doxology, addressed through Jesus Christ, to God almighty and wise.

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Luke 1:26-38

The Annunciation and Incarnation of the Son of God

[26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee
named Nazareth, [27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of
the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. [28] And he came to her and
said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” [29] But she was greatly troubled
at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. [30]
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with
God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you
shall call His name Jesus. [32] He will be great, and will be called the Son of
the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David,
[33] and He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His Kingdom there
will be no end.” [34] And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have
no husband?” [35] And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon
you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to
be born will be called holy, the Son of God. [36] And behold, your kinswoman
Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month
with her who was called barren. [37] For with God nothing will be impossible.”
[38] And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to
me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

26-38. Here we contemplate our Lady who was “enriched from the first instant of
her conception with the splendor of an entirely unique holiness; [...] the virgin of
Nazareth is hailed by the heralding angel, by divine command, as `full of grace’
(cf. Luke 1:28), and to the heavenly messenger she replies, `Behold the handmaid
of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word’ (Luke 1:38). Thus the dau-
ghter of Adam, Mary, consenting to the word of God, became the Mother of Jesus.

Committing herself wholeheartedly to God’s saving will and impeded by no sin,
she devoted herself totally, as a handmaid of the Lord, to the person and work of
her Son, under and with Him, serving the mystery of Redemption, by the grace of
Almighty God. Rightly, therefore, the Fathers (of the Church) see Mary not merely
as passively engaged by God, but as freely cooperating in the work of man’s sal-
vation through faith and obedience” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 56).

The annunciation to Mary and incarnation of the Word constitute the deepest
mystery of the relationship between God and men and the most important event
in the history of mankind: God becomes man, and will remain so forever, such is
the extent of His goodness and mercy and love for all of us. And yet on the day
when the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity assumed frail human nature in
the pure womb of the Blessed Virgin, it all happened quietly, without fanfare of
any kind.

St. Luke tells the story in a very simple way. We should treasure these words
of the Gospel and use them often, for example, practising the Christian custom
of saying the Angelus every day and reflecting on the five Joyful Mysteries of the
Rosary.

27. God chose to be born of a virgin; centuries earlier He disclosed this through
the prophet Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23). God, “before all ages made
choice of, and set in her proper place, a mother for His only-begotten Son from
whom He, after being made flesh, should be born in the blessed fullness of time:
and He continued His persevering regard for her in preference to all other crea-
tures, to such a degree that for her alone He had singular regard” (Pius IX, “Inef-
fabilis Deus,” 2). This privilege granted to our Lady of being a virgin and a mother
at the same time is a unique gift of God. This was the work of the Holy Spirit
“who at the conception and the birth of the Son so favored the Virgin Mother as
to impart fruitfulness to her while preserving inviolate her perpetual virginity” (”St.
Pius V Catechism,” I, 4, 8). Paul VI reminds us of this truth of faith: “We believe
that the Blessed Mary, who ever enjoys the dignity of virginity, was the Mother of
the incarnate Word, of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (”Creed of the People of
God”, 14).

Although many suggestions have been made as to what the name Mary means,
most of the best scholars seem to agree that Mary means “lady”. However, no
single meaning fully conveys the richness of the name.

28. “Hail, full of grace”: literally the Greek text reads “Rejoice!”, obviously refer-
ring to the unique joy over the news which the angel is about to communicate.

“Full of grace”: by this unusual form of greeting the archangel reveals Mary’s
special dignity and honor. The Fathers and Doctors of the Church “taught that
this singular, solemn and unheard-of-greeting showed that all the divine graces
reposed in the Mother of God and that she was adorned with all the gifts of the
Holy Spirit”, which meant that she “was never subject to the curse”, that is, was
preserved from all sin. These words of the archangel in this text constitute one
of the sources which reveal the dogma of Mary’s Immaculate Conception (cf.
Pius IX, “Ineffabilis Deus”; Paul VI, “Creed of the People of God”).

“The Lord is with you!”: these words are not simply a greeting (”the Lord be with
you”) but an affirmation (”the Lord is with you”), and they are closely connected
with the Incarnation. St. Augustine comments by putting these words on the
archangel’s lips: “He is more with you than He is with me: He is in your heart,
He takes shape within you, He fills your soul, He is in your womb” (”Sermo De
Nativitate Domini”, 4).

Some important Greek manuscripts and early translations add at the end of the
verse: “Blessed are you among women!”, meaning that God will exalt Mary over
all women. She is more excellent than Sarah, Hannah, Deborah, Rachel, Judith,
etc., for only she has the supreme honor of being chosen to be the Mother of
God.

29-30. Our Lady is troubled by the presence of the archangel and by the confu-
sion truly humble people experience when they receive praise.

30. The Annunciation is the moment when our Lady is given to know the vocation
which God planned for her from eternity. When the archangel sets her mind at
ease by saying, “Do not be afraid, Mary,” he is helping her to overcome that initial
fear which a person normally experiences when God gives him or her a special
calling. The fact that Mary felt this fear does not imply the least trace of imperfec-
tion in her: hers is a perfectly natural reaction in the face of the supernatural. Im-
perfection would arise if one did not overcome this fear or rejected the advice of
those in a position to help—as St. Gabriel helped Mary.

31-33. The archangel Gabriel tells the Blessed Virgin Mary that she is to be the
Mother of God by reminding her of the words of Isaiah which announced that the
Messiah would be born of a virgin, a prophecy which will find its fulfillment in
Mary (cf. Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 7:14).

He reveals that the Child will be “great”: His greatness comes from His being
God, a greatness He does not lose when He takes on the lowliness of human
nature. He also reveals that Jesus will be the king of the Davidic dynasty sent
by God in keeping with His promise of salvation; that His Kingdom will last for-
ever, for His humanity will remain forever joined to His divinity; that “He will be
called Son of the Most High”, that is that He really will be the Son of the Most
High and will be publicly recognized as such, that is, the Child will be the Son
of God.

The archangel’s announcement evokes the ancient prophecies which foretold
these prerogatives. Mary, who was well-versed in Sacred Scripture, clearly rea-
lized that she was to be the Mother of God.

34-38. Commenting on this passage John Paul II said: “`Virgo fidelis’, the faithful
Virgin. What does this faithfulness of Mary mean? What are the dimensions of
this faithfulness? The first dimension is called search. Mary was faithful first of
all when she began, lovingly, to seek the deep sense of God’s plan in her and for
the world. `Quomodo fiet?’ How shall this be?, she asked the Angel of the Annun-
ciation [...].”

“The second dimension of faithfulness is called reception, acceptance. The `quo-
modo fiet?’ is changed, on Mary’s lips, to a `fiat’: Let it be done, I am ready, I ac-
cept. This is the crucial moment of faithfulness, the moment in which man per-
ceives that he will never completely understand the `how’: that there are in God’s
plan more areas of mystery than of clarity; that is, however he may try, he will
never succeed in understanding it completely [...].”

“The third dimension of faithfulness is consistency to live in accordance with what
one believes; to adapt one’s own life to the object of one’s adherence. To accept
misunderstanding, persecutions, rather than a break between what one practises
and what one believes: this is consistency[...].”

“But all faithfulness must pass the most exacting test, that of duration. Therefore,
the fourth dimension of faithfulness is constancy. It is easy to be consistent for
a day or two. It is difficult and important to be consistent for one’s whole life. It
is easy to be consistent in the hour of enthusiasm, it is difficult to be so in the
hour of tribulation. And only a consistency that lasts throughout the whole life
can be called faithfulness. Mary’s `fiat’ in the Annunciation finds its fullness in
the silent `fiat’ that she repeats at the foot of the Cross” (”Homily in Mexico City
Cathedral”, 26 January 1979).

34. Mary believed in the archangel’s words absolutely; she did not doubt as Ze-
chariah had done (cf. 1:18). Her question, “How can this be?”, expresses her
readiness to obey the will of God even though at first sight it implied a contra-
diction: on the one hand, she was convinced that God wished her to remain a
virgin; on the other, here was God also announcing that she would become a
mother. The archangel announces God’s mysterious design, and what had
seemed impossible, according to the laws of nature, is explained by a unique
intervention on the part of God.

Mary’s resolution to remain a virgin was certainly something very unusual, not in
line with the practice of righteous people under the Old Covenant, for, as St. Au-
gustine explains, “particularly attentive to the propagation and growth of the peo-
ple of God, through whom the Prince and Savior of the world might be prophesied
and be born, the saints were obliged to make use of the good of matrimony” (”De
Bono Matrimonii”, 9, 9). However, in the Old Testament, there were some who, in
keeping with God’s plan, did remain celibate—for example, Jeremiah, Elijah, Eli-
seus and John the Baptist. The Blessed Virgin, who received a very special
inspiration of the Holy Spirit to practise virginity, is a first-fruit of the New Testa-
ment, which will establish the excellence of virginity over marriage while not taking
from the holiness of the married state, which it raises to the level of a sacrament
(cf. “Gaudium Et Spes”, 48).

35. The “shadow” is a symbol of the presence of God. When Israel was jour-
neying through the wilderness, the glory of God filled the Tabernacle and a cloud
covered the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 40:34-36). And when God gave Moses
the tablets of the Law, a cloud covered Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:15-16); and also,
at the Transfiguration of Jesus the voice of God the Father was heard coming out
of a cloud (Luke 9:35).

At the moment of the Incarnation the power of God envelops our Lady — an expres-
sion of God’s omnipotence. The Spirit of God—which, according to the account
in Genesis (1:2), moved over the face of the waters, bringing things to life—now
comes down on Mary. And the fruit of her womb will be the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Virgin Mary, who herself was conceived without any stain of sin (cf. Pius IX,
“Ineffabilis Deus”) becomes, after the Incarnation, a new tabernacle of God. This
is the mystery we recall every day when saying the Angelus.

38. Once she learns of God’s plan, our Lady yields to God’s will with prompt obe-
dience, unreservedly. She realizes the disproportion between what she is going
to become—the Mother of God—and what she is—a woman. However, this is what
God wants to happen and for Himnothing is impossible; therefore no one should
stand in His way. So Mary, combining humility and obedience, responds perfectly
to God’s call: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done according to
your word.”

“At the enchantment of this virginal phrase, the Word became flesh” (St. J. Escr-
iva, “Holy Rosary”, first joyful mystery). From the pure body of Mary, God shaped
a new body, He created a soul out of nothing, and the Son of God united Himself
with this body and soul: prior to this He was only God; now He is still God but al-
so man. Mary is now the Mother of God. This truth is a dogma of faith, first de-
fined by the Council of Ephesus (431). At this point she also begins to be the spi-
ritual Mother of all mankind. What Christ says when He is dying—`Behold, your
son..., behold, your mother” (John 19:26-27) — simply promulgates what came
about silently at Nazareth. “With her generous `fiat’ (Mary) became, through the
working of the Spirit, the Mother of God, but also the Mother of the living, and by
receiving into her womb the one Mediator, she became the true Ark of the Cove-
nant and true Temple of God” (Paul VI, “Marialis Cultus”, 6).

The Annunciation shows us the Blessed Virgin as perfect model of “purity” (the
RSV “I have no husband” is a euphemism); of “humility” (”Behold, I am the hand-
maid of the Lord”); of “candor” and “simplicity” (”How can this be?”); of “obe-
dience” and “lively faith” (”Let it be done to me according to your word”). “Fol-
lowing her example of obedience to God, we can learn to serve delicately without
being slavish. In Mary, we don’t find the slightest trace of the attitude of the foo-
lish virgins, who obey, but thoughtlessly. Our Lady listens attentively to what
God wants, ponders what she doesn’t fully understand and asks about what she
doesn’t know. Then she gives herself completely to doing the divine will: `Behold
I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word’. Isn’t
that marvellous? The Blessed Virgin, our teacher in all we do, shows us here
that obedience to God is not servile, does not bypass our conscience. We
should be inwardly moved to discover the `freedom of the children of God’ (cf.
Romans 8:21)” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 173).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Father Cantalamessa's 3rd Advent Meditation [Papal Household Preacher]

Father Cantalamessa's 3rd Advent Meditation

"When the Fullness of Time Had Come God Sent His Son Born of a Woman"

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the Advent homily Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the Pontifical Household, delivered today in the Vatican in the presence of Benedict XVI and the Roman Curia.

This is the third and last Advent sermons the preacher wrote on the theme "'When the Fullness of Time Had Come, God Sent his Son, Born of a Woman: Going With St. Paul to Meet the Christ Who Comes."

* * *

1. Paul and the Dogma of the Incarnation

Once again we will present the passage from St. Paul that we intend to reflect on.

"I mean that as long as the heir is not of age, he is no different from a slave, although he is the owner of everything, but he is under the supervision of guardians and administrators until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were not of age, were enslaved to the elemental powers of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption. As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!' So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then also an heir, through God" (Galatians 4, 4-7).

We hear this passage often during the Christmas season, beginning with First Vespers for the solemnity of Christmas. We will first of all speak about the theological implications of this text. It is the place in which we come closest, in the Pauline corpus, to the idea of preexistence and incarnation. The idea of "sending" ("God sent [exapesteilen] his Son") is placed parallel to the sending of the Spirit, which is spoken of two verses later and hearkens back to that which is said in the Old Testament about God's sending of Wisdom and the Holy Spirit out into the world (Wisdom 9:10, 17). These combinations indicate that here we are not dealing with a sending "from the earth," as in the case of the prophets, but "from heaven."

The idea of Christ's preexistence is implicit in the Pauline texts, which speak of Christ's role in the creation of the world (1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:15-16), and when Paul says that the rock that followed the people in the desert was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). The idea of the incarnation is, in turn, suggested in the Christological hymn of Philippians 2:6-7: "Being in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking on the form of a slave."

Despite these passages, it must be admitted that in Paul preexistence and incarnation are truths that are still germinating; they have not yet been fully formulated. The reason for this is that the center of interest and the starting point of everything for St. Paul is the paschal mystery, that is, the work, more than the person of the Savior. This is in contrast to St. John, for whom the starting point and the epicenter of attention is precisely the Son's preexistence and incarnation.

We have here two different "ways" or routes in the discovery of who Jesus Christ is. One, that of Paul, begins from humanity to reach divinity, from the flesh to reach the Spirit, from the history of Christ to arrive at the preexistence of Christ. The other, that of John, follows the inverse path: It begins from the Word's divinity to arrive at affirming his humanity, from his existence in eternity to descend to his existence in time. Paul's approach makes the resurrection the hinge of the two phases, and John's sees the passage as turning on the incarnation.

These two approaches consolidated in the epoch that followed and gave rise to two models or archetypes and finally to two Christological schools: the Antiochene school influenced by Paul and the Alexandrian school influenced by John. Neither group was aware of choosing between Paul and John; each takes itself to include both. That is undoubtedly true; but it is a fact that the two influences are visible and distinguishable, like two rivers that merge together but are nevertheless identifiable by the different color of their waters.

This difference is reflected, for example, in the different way in which the two schools interpret Christ's kenosis in Philippians 2. From the 2nd and 3rd centuries, even down to modern exegesis, two different readings can be delineated. According to the Alexandrian school the initial subject of the hymn is the Son of God preexistent in the form of God. In this case the kenosis, or "pouring out," would consist in the incarnation, in becoming man. According to the Antiochene school, the sole subject of the hymn, from beginning to end, is the historical Christ, Jesus of Nazareth. In this case the kenosis would consist in the abasement inherent in his becoming a slave, in submitting himself to the passion and death.

The difference between the two schools is not that some follow Paul and others John, but that some interpret John in the light Paul and others Paul in the light of John. The difference is the framework or background perspective that is adopted for illustrating the mystery of Christ. It can be said that the main lines of the Church's dogma and theology have formed in the confrontation of these two schools, which continue to have an impact today.

2. Born of a Woman

The relative silence about the incarnation in Paul leads to an almost complete silence about Mary, the Mother of the Incarnate Word. The incisive "born of a woman" ("factum sub muliere") of our text is the most explicit reference to Mary in the Pauline corpus. It is equivalent to the other expression: "from the seed of David according to the flesh" – "factum ex semine David secundum carnem" (Romans 1:3).

However bare, this claim of the Apostle is quite important. It was one of the essential propositions in the struggle against gnostic Docetism from the 2nd century onward. It says, in fact, that Jesus is not a heavenly apparition; because he is born of a woman, he is fully inserted into humanity and history, "like men in all things" (Philippians 2:7). "Why do we say that Christ is a man," Tertullian writes, "if not because he is born of Mary who is a human creature?"[1] On second thought, "born of a woman" better expresses the true humanity of Christ than the title "son of man." In a literal sense, Jesus is not the son of man, not having a man for a father, but he is truly the "son of woman."

The Pauline text was also at the center of the debate over the title "Mother of God" ("theotokos") in the subsequent Christological disputes, and this explains why the Galatians text is the second reading in the liturgy for the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God on Jan. 1.

There is one detail that should be noted. If Paul would have said: "born of Mary," he would have been merely mentioning a biographical fact; but in saying "born of a woman," he gives universal and immense import to his statement. And the woman herself, every woman, is elevated in Mary to an incredible height. Mary is here the woman par excellence.

3. "What Does it Matter to Me that Christ was Born of Mary?"

We meditate on the Pauline text with Christmas fast approaching and in the spirit of "lectio divina." So, we cannot tarry to long over the exegetical data, but after having contemplated the theological truth contained in the text, we must draw guidance for our spiritual life from it, highlighting the "for me" character of the word of God.

A line of Origen -- taken up by St. Augustine, St. Bernard, Luther and others -- says: "What does it matter to me that Christ was once given birth by Mary in Bethlehem, if faith is not also born in my soul?"[2] Mary's divine maternity is realized on two levels: on a physical level and a spiritual level. Mary is the Mother of God not only because she carried him in her womb physically but also because she first conceived him in her heart, with faith. Of course, we cannot imitate Mary in the first sense, giving birth to Christ again, but we can imitate her in the second sense, in the sense of her faith. Jesus was the first to apply this title of "Mother of Christ" to the Church when he said: "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice" (Luke 8:21; cf. Mark 3:31 f.; Matthew 12:49).

In the tradition, this truth was applied in two complementary ways, one pastoral and the other spiritual. In the one case we see this maternity realized in the Church taken as a whole inasmuch as she is "universal sacrament of salvation"; in the other we see it realized in each individual person or soul who believes.

Blessed Isaac of Stella, a medieval theologian, made a kind of synthesis of all these elements. In a famous homily that we read last Saturday in the Liturgy of the Hours, he writes: "Mary and the Church are one mother and more than one, one virgin and more than one ...Therefore in the divinely inspired Scripture what is said, what is said universally of the Church, Virgin and Mother, is also said individually of Mary; and what is said in a special way of Mary is understood in a general sense of the Virgin Mother Church ... In the end, every faithful soul is the spouse of the Word of God, mother, daughter and sister of Christ. Each faithful soul is understood in its own sense to be virgin and fruitful."[3]

The Second Vatican Council positions itself in the first perspective when it says: "The Church ... becomes herself a mother. By her preaching she brings forth to a new and immortal life the sons who are born to her in baptism, conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of God."[4]

We will focus on the personal application to each soul: "Every soul who believes," writes St. Ambrose, "conceives and gives birth to the Word of God ... if one alone is Mother of Christ according to the flesh, all souls, according to the faith, give birth to Christ when they accept the word of God."[5] An Eastern Father echoes St. Ambrose: "Christ is always mystically born in the soul, taking flesh in those who are saved and making a virgin mother of the soul that gives him birth."[6]

Just how one concretely becomes mother of Jesus he himself indicates in the Gospel: hearing the word and putting it into practice (cf. Luke 8:21; Mark 3:31 f.; Matthew 12:49). To understand this, let us again think about how Mary became mother: conceiving him and giving birth to him. In Scripture we see these two moments emphasized: "Behold the Virgin will conceive and will give birth to a son," it says in Isaiah; and the angel tells Mary: "You will conceive and give birth to a Son."

There are two incomplete maternities or two types of interruptions of maternity: the one is the old and well known interruption that takes place in a miscarriage or an abortion. These occur when a life is conceived but there is no birth because in the meantime, either on account of natural causes (in the case of a miscarriage) or because of human sin (in the case of an abortion), the child dies. Until a short time ago, these were the only forms of incomplete maternity. Today there is an opposite form of incomplete maternity, which consists in a woman giving birth to a child that she did not conceive. This occurs with children who are conceived in a test tube and then inserted in a woman's womb and in the case of wombs "borrowed" to host, perhaps for money, human lives conceived elsewhere. In this case, the child to whom the woman gives birth, does not come from her, is not conceived "first in the heart and then in the body."

Unfortunately, these two sad types of incomplete maternity also exist in the spiritual realm. Those who hear the word without putting it into practice, those who have one spiritual abortion after another, making plans for conversion that they systematically abandon when they get halfway down the road, conceive Jesus but do not give birth to him. They are impatient observers of the word, they look at their face in a mirror and then go away forgetting what they looked like (cf. James 1:23). In sum, they are those who have faith but no works.

But there are also those who, on the contrary, give birth to Christ without having conceived him. They do many works, even good ones, that do not come from the heart, from love of God and right intention, but rather from habit, hypocrisy, the pursuit of their own glory and their own interests, or simply from the gratification of doing them. In sum, they are those who have works but no faith.

St. Francis of Assisi summarizes, in a positive way, what constitutes true maternity in regard to Christ: "We are mothers of Christ," he says, "when we carry him in our heart and in our body by divine love and with a pure and sincere conscience; we give birth to him through holy works, which should shine forth as an example for others. ... How holy and dear, pleasant, humble, peaceful, lovable and desirable above all things it is to have such a brother and such a son, our Lord Jesus Christ!"[7] The saint is telling us that we conceive Christ when we love him with a sincere heart and with rectitude of conscience, and we give birth to him when we accomplish holy deeds that manifest him to the world.

4. The Two Feasts of the Child Jesus

St. Bonaventure, a disciple and spiritual son of the "Poverello" of Assisi, took up and developed this idea in an opuscule entitled "The Five Feasts of the Child Jesus." In the introduction to the book, he recounts how one day, while in retreat on Mount Verna, he recalled that the holy Fathers say that the soul devoted to God, by the grace of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High, can conceive the blessed Word and only-begotten Son of the Father, give birth to him, give him his name, seek and adore him with the Magi and, finally, happily present him to God the Father in his temple.[8] Of these five moments or feasts of the Child Jesus that can be re-lived by the soul, we are above all interested in the first two: the conception and birth. For St. Bonaventure, the soul conceives Jesus when, dissatisfied with the life he is living, prompted by holy inspirations and inflamed by holy ardor, he resolutely tears himself away from his old habits and defects, is in a way made spiritually fertile by the grace of the Holy Spirit and conceives the project of a new life. Christ has been conceived!

Once conceived, the blessed Son of God will be born in the heart so long as this soul, after having made a right discernment, asked for appropriate advice and called upon God for help, puts his holy plan immediately into practice and begins to realize that which had been ripening in him but which he had always put off for fear of being incapable of succeeding in it.

But we must insist on one thing: This project of a new life must translate itself, without delay, into something concrete, into a change, possibly even external and visible, in our life and in our habits. If the plan is not put into action, Jesus is conceived, but he is not born. It will become one of the many spiritual abortions. The "second feast" of the Child Jesus, which is Christmas, will never be celebrated. It will be one of the many postponements which are the main reason why so few become saints.

If you decide to change your lifestyle and enter into the category of the poor and humble, who, like Mary, only seek the grace of God, without worrying about pleasing men, then, St. Bonaventure writes, you must arm yourself with courage, because you will need it. You will face two kinds of temptations. First, from the more carnal sorts among those with whom you associate, who will say to you: "What your taking on is too hard; you'll never do it, you lack the strength, it will be bad for your health; these kinds of things don't suit your position in society, you'll compromise your good name and your dignity in your work."

This obstacle overcome, other people will turn up who are thought to be pious, and perhaps even are pious, but who do not really believe in the power of God and his Spirit. They will tell you that if you start to live this way -- giving so much time to prayer, avoiding gossip and idle chatter, doing works of charity -- you will soon be thought a saint, a person of devotion, a spiritual person, and since you know well that you are not yet any of those things, you will end up deceiving people and being a hypocrite, drawing the reproof of God, who knows our heart.

We must respond to all these temptations with faith. "The hand of God is not too short to save!" (Isaiah 59:1) and, almost getting impatient with ourselves, exclaiming, like Augustine on the eve of his conversion: "If these men and women have done it, why can't I?" -- "Si isti et istae, cur non ego?"[9]

5. Mary Said Yes

The example of the Mother of God suggests to bring this new drive to our spiritual life, to truly conceive and give birth to Jesus in us this Christmas. Mary says a decisive and total Yes to God. Great stress is put on Mary's "fiat," on Mary as "the Virgin of the 'fiat'." But Mary did not speak Latin and so did not say "fiat"; nor did she speak Greek and so did not say "genoito," which is the word we find at that point in Luke's Greek text.

If it is legitimate to go back, with a pious reflection, to the "ipsissima vox," to the exact word that came from Mary's mouth -- or at least to the word that would be found at this point in the Judaic source that Luke used -- this must have been the word "amen." Amen, a Hebrew word whose root means solidity, certainty -- was used in the liturgy as a response of faith to God's word. Every time that, at the end of certain Psalms in the Vulgate we once read "fiat, fiat," now in the new version, translated from the original text, we read: "Amen, amen." This is also the case for the Greek word: in the Septuagint, at the end of the same Psalms, where we read "genoito, genoito," the original Hebrew has "Amen, amen!"

The "amen" recognizes that the word that has been spoken is firm, stable, valid and binding. Its exact translation, when it is a response to the word of God, is: "This is how it is and this is how it shall be." It indicates both faith and obedience; it recognizes that what God says is true and submits to it. It is saying "yes" to God. This is the meaning it has when it is spoken by Jesus: "Yes, amen, Father, because this was your good pleasure" (cf. Matthew 11:26). Jesus is, indeed, Amen personified: "Thus, he is the Amen" (Revelation 3:14), and it is through him, St. Paul adds, that every "amen" pronounced on earth ascends to God (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:20).

In almost all human languages the word that express consent is a monosyllable -- sì, ja, yes, oui, da -- one of the shortest words in the language but that with which both bride and groom and consecrated persons decide their lives forever. In the rite for religious profession and priestly ordination there is also a moment in which yes is said.

There is a nuance in Mary's Amen that is important to note. In modern languages we use verbs in the indicative mood to refer to something that has happened or will happen, and in the conditional mood to refer to something that could happen under certain conditions, etc. Greek has a particular mood called the optative mood. It is a mood that is used to express a certain desire or impatience for a particular thing to happen. The word used by Luke, "genoito," is in this mood!

St. Paul says that "God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7) and Mary says her "yes" to God with joy. Let us ask her to obtain for us the grace to say a joyous and renewed Yes to God and so conceive and give birth to his Son Jesus Christ this Christmas.

* * *

[1] Tertullian, "De carne Christi," 5,6 (CC, 2, p. 881).
[2] Origen, "Commentary on the Gospel of Luke," 22, 3 (SCh, 87, p. 302).

[3] Isaac of Stella, "Sermones," 51 (PL 194, 1863 f.).
[4] "Lumen Gentium," 64.

[5] St. Ambrose, "Expositio Evangelii Secundum Lucam," II, 26 (CSEL 32, 4, p.55).
[6] St. Maximus the Confessor, "Commentary on the Our Father," (PG 90, 889).

[7] St. Francis of Assisi, "Lettera ai fedeli," 1 (Fonti Francescane, n. 178).
[8] St. Bonaventura, "The Five Feasts of the Child Jesus," prologue (ed. Quaracchi 1949, pp. 207 ff.).

[9] St. Augustine, "Confessions," VIII, 8, 19.

Welcoming Jesus as Mary Did

December 20th, 2008 by Fr. Paul Grankauskas

Scripture says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings tidings of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Is 52:7).

Rightly do these words apply to the angel Gabriel, who brings to us from God the gladdest tidings of all.

Consider the moment of the Annunciation from Mary’s point of view. The words of the angel echo the promise made by the Lord to King David centuries before, recorded in this week’s first reading: “The Lord also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you. And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up an heir for you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.”

Mary’s heart must have raced to hear the angel’s news. Her Son would be the royal offspring of David and He would establish a lasting kingdom. Her Son would be the long-awaited Messiah. The angel’s tidings meant that God had not forsaken His people. Rather, God was going to visit them anew. This was the fulfillment of the deepest longings of Mary’s people.

Consider the moment of the Annunciation from our contemporary point of view. We know that when the angel calls Mary’s child the “Son of the Most High,” it goes beyond what even the Jewish people might have expected of the Messiah. He would not simply be God’s son in a moral sense or by adoption. Rather, we know that Jesus is “light from light, true God from true God, one in being with the Father.” The divine Son, born of the Virgin Mary, would receive what He did not possess on His own: a human nature, flesh and blood, a body and soul. This is the flesh and blood He would offer in sacrifice on the cross to save His fellow men from sin, taking His place as the new Adam who renews and restores creation. From our point of view, the angel’s tidings mean that the moment of our redemption is at hand.

There is yet a deeper lesson we can draw from contemplating this momentous event in salvation history. It is not enough that Mary should conceive the child in her womb. She has to welcome the child in her life. We might ask ourselves, what’s the difference? The answer is simple: plenty.

Mary could conceive the child in her womb, but she had to welcome her Son as her Savior. She would walk the road to Calvary with her Son and would play an intimate part in the work of our redemption. In other words, her life and vocation would be intimately and inextricably linked with that of her Son’s. Everything would have to be given over to her relationship with Jesus, her Savior and her Child.

In a culture of death that enshrines a right to abortion, it is now possible to conceive a child, but not welcome him. In fact, abortion is about rejection of a child who has been conceived. It is possible for a child to be conceived and brought to term, but never be nurtured and loved by parents. Perhaps we have heard stories about parents who make little time for relationships with their children, buying love and affection with material goods instead.

Our Lord once said that the one who does the will of His Father in heaven is His brother, His sister and His mother. It is probably easy for us to grasp that, by virtue of the grace of baptism, we are sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters of Christ. It is certainly more daring to imagine ourselves to be like the mother of Christ.

To be like Mary, to image her motherhood in our lives as Christians, it is necessary for us to do more than just say, “I accept Jesus.” Our faith must be expressed in action and in virtue. Imagine a husband and wife. If one is constantly critical of the other and says no appreciative words to the other, yet claims deep down to really love one’s spouse, where is the visible proof? It may be that one spouse makes sacrifices for the other and shows love in action, but it is still nice when love is expressed in word and action.

If we say we love Jesus, yet we make no effort to imitate Him in our lives, to practice the virtues that would truly make us living images of Christ, then where is the proof of that love? That the Spirit of God truly dwells in a soul is something that can only be known when Christ’s love is manifested in a person’s word and actions.

As we come to the end of Advent and prepare for the celebration of Christmas, we would do well to ask our Blessed Mother to pray for us. Our prayer should be quite simple: to receive the grace we need to love her Son just as she did.

Fr. Paul Grankauskas is parochial vicar at St. Mary of Sorrows Parish in Fairfax, Virginia.

(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)

The Work of God

Year B

- Fourth Sunday of Advent

The Incarnation - Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with Thee

Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
28 And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."
29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
30 The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.
33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
34 Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"
35 The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.
36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.
37 For nothing will be impossible with God."
38 Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Inspiration of the Holy Spirit - From the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Fourth Sunday of Advent - The Incarnation - Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with Thee

Right from the very beginning of creation, the Holy Trinity anticipated the moment of the Incarnation of the Word with great joy.

God the Father looked through the entire human race throughout the ages. In his divine will he destined the Blessed Virgin Mary to be my mother and the mother of the new creation of grace.

Sin had to be overcome once and for all, death had to be eliminated so that the children of God could resurrect and live after death, the ancient enemy of the human race had to be restrained and be put to shame, the kingdom of heaven had to be given to those who would accept the Son of God.

The archangel Gabriel came to visit the humble virgin to announce the plan of the Heavenly Father to bring salvation to the world. At the consent of Mary, my beloved mother, the Holy Spirit overshadowed her and she conceived in her womb. The Word of God was now made flesh.

At my arrival into this world, darkness ceased to have power and was forced to give way to light whose author was here now. Sin shivered and began to surrender to my word to allow hearts and souls to be filled with my grace. The world, then perishing by the sinfulness of his people, began its restoration, with the splendor of the new era brought about by my incarnation.

My gratitude as the Word of God is eternal towards my mother, for having clothed my spirit with her flesh, for having given me human existence and for having accompanied me and taken care of me until my death on the cross.

I want you all to look up to her, and accept her as your own mother, imitate her and receive her as your great means of coming closer to me. Learn from her humility and great virtues that she practiced during her entire life.

Author: Joseph of Jesus and Mary

The Road to Emmaus

Fourth Sunday of Advent (Cycle B)

By Brian Pizzalato *

First Reading – 2 Sam. 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16

Responsorial Psalm – Ps. 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29

Second Reading – Rom. 16:25-27

Gospel Reading – Lk. 1:26-38

This week’s readings are some of the most beautiful in all of Scripture, not to mention some of the most important, in particular the Gospel reading from Luke on the Annunciation and Incarnation.

Let us begin with Old and work our way into the New.

The first reading is taken from 2 Samuel 7. However we must go even further back into salvation history to realize the momentous import of 2 Samuel 7, and ultimately Luke 1.

Promise of kingship to Abraham

In Genesis 12 God promises Abram a royal dynasty. “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great…” (v. 2).

The promise of royal dynasty is raised to the level of a covenant oath in Genesis 17, when Abram’s name, “exalted father,” is changed to Abraham, “father of a multitude of nations.” The Lord says to Abraham, “I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendents after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant…” (vv. 6-7). As for Sarah, Abraham’s wife, “I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her; I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her” (v.16).

The people ask for a king

However, for approximately the next one thousand years, the people of God would not have an earthly king. In 1 Samuel 8, after a series of twelve judges oversaw the twelve tribes of Israel, the people come to the prophet/thirteenth judge Samuel and say, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint for us a king to govern us like all the nations” (v. 5).

Samuel is upset by this request because it seems to be a personal rejection of him. But, the Lord speaks to Samuel and says, “…they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them” (v. 7). It is even more serious than Samuel thought.

The problem with the request is not that they want an earthly king. God himself swore to Abraham to one day provide this. The problem is that they want an earthly king for the wrong reason. They want to be like the other nations who God has been telling them not to be like – even before they entered the Promised Land.

All of this also tells us that Yahweh is king, and he has desired to share his kingship. In wanting a king like the nations, they reject God, his being their king, and his will to have a godly king.

King Saul

So what does God do? As God is wont to do on occasion he gives them what they want as a punishment for not asking for what they really need. However, by giving them what they want, in the future, God will give them what he wants.

God does give them a king, King Saul. Saul will proceed to sin grievously against the Lord. He will offer unlawful sacrifices, swear rash oaths, consult a medium which even he himself had outlawed, slaughter priests and try to kill David. Samuel informs Saul, “Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king” (1 Sam. 15:23b).

A new king is anointed

God then calls Samuel to “fill your horn with oil, and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons” (1 Sam. 16:1b). Samuel then goes to the house of Jesse and privately anoints David as the future king. All the while Saul continues to reign until 1 Samuel 31 when we are told of his death.

In 2 Samuel 2 David is publically anointed king of Judah, one of the twelve tribes, over which he would reign for seven and half years. After this time, in 2 Samuel 5, David is publically anointed king over all twelve tribes of Israel. He immediately goes on to make Jerusalem the capital city, and bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem (cf. 2 Sam. 5-6). .

The covenant with David

This brings us to 2 Samuel 7, this Sunday’s Old Testament reading. Here is where God begins the fulfillment of what he swore to Abraham back in Genesis 17. He swears a covenant oath with David regarding his royal dynasty.

David starts by wanting to build a house, a temple for the Lord. However, God says no to this desire. In language similar to that of Genesis 12, God says to David, “…I will make for you a great name…” (2 Sam. 7:9)

Samuel goes on to tell David, “Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son…and your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever” (1 Sam. 7:11c-16).

Here we have the covenant made with David sung about in the Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant: I will establish you descendents forever and build your throne for all generations” (Ps. 89:3-4).

A kingdom divided

However, the ten tribes in the north, because of their sins, would basically be destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. Also, in 586 B.C. the two southern tribes are taken into captivity by the Babylonians, because of their sins. With even there would be no reigning king for about another five hundred years.

So has God failed to live up to the covenant? By no means! Understanding this history is part of what makes this Sunday’s Gospel reading so important.

The fulfillment of the covenants with Abraham and David

The angel Gabriel appears to “a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David…” (Luke 1:27). Gabriel will go on to proclaim that “…you will conceive in your womb and bear a son…and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob [Israel] for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:31a, 32b-33).

It is interesting to reflect back on God’s covenant with David and the fact that God said that someone would reign on his throne forever, i.e. for all eternity. How is this even possible to begin with? The only way this is really possible is if God himself is that king, but also that that king is of the line of David. For all of this to take place God would have to become man and be of the line of David. And, miraculously, this is what happens to Mary when the Holy Spirit comes upon her. God takes on human nature, body, blood and soul and mysteriously unites it to his divinity. He will reign on the Davidic throne for all eternity. Christ is truly the King of kings.

It is also important that God said to David that he would be the Davidic king’s father, and the king shall be his son. Each Davidic king was considered to be a christ, i.e. an anointed one. They were also considered to be God’s son. How fitting it is that God the Father sent his Son to be the eternal Davidic king. It is not a coincidence that we hear the following words at Jesus’ royal anointing in his baptism, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22b).

Let us thank God that Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

* Brian Pizzalato is the Director of Catechesis, R.C.I.A. & Lay Apostolate for the Diocese of Duluth. He is also a faculty member of the Philosophy department of the Maryvale Institute, Birmingham, England. Brian is a regular columnist for CNA. He also writes a monthly catechetical article for The Northern Cross, of the Diocese of Duluth, and is a contributing author to the Association for Catechumenal Ministry's R.C.I.A. Participants Book.
Brian is currently authoring the regular series, "Catechesis and Contemporary Culture," in The Sower, published by the Maryvale Institute and is also in the process of writing the Philosophy of Religion course book for the B.A. in Philosophy and the Catholic Tradition program at the Maryvale Institute.
Brian holds an M.A. in Theology and Christian Ministry with a Catechetics specialization and an M.A. in Philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.

Oriens

Radiant Dawn, Dayspring

Isaias 9:2
The people that walked in darkness, have seen a great light: to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen.

Dayspring, Brightness of the everlasting light, Son of justice, come to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!

Latin
O Oriens, splendor lucis æternæ, et sol justitiæ: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

Mass Readings

First reading	2 Samuel 7:1-5,8-11,16 ©
Once David had settled into his house and the Lord had given him rest from all the enemies surrounding him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘Look, I am living in a house of cedar while the ark of God dwells in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go and do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.’ But that very night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: ‘Go and tell my servant David, “Thus the Lord speaks: Are you the man to build me a house to dwell in? I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader of my people Israel; I have been with you on all your expeditions; I have cut off all your enemies before you. I will give you fame as great as the fame of the greatest on earth. I will provide a place for my people Israel; I will plant them there and they shall dwell in that place and never be disturbed again; nor shall the wicked continue to oppress them as they did, in the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel; I will give them rest from all their enemies. The Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House. Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established for ever.”’

First reading

Once David had settled into his house and the Lord had given him rest from all the enemies surrounding him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘Look, I am living in a house of cedar while the ark of God dwells in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go and do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.’
But that very night the word of the Lord came to Nathan:
‘Go and tell my servant David, “Thus the Lord speaks: Are you the man to build me a house to dwell in? I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader of my people Israel; I have been with you on all your expeditions; I have cut off all your enemies before you. I will give you fame as great as the fame of the greatest on earth. I will provide a place for my people Israel; I will plant them there and they shall dwell in that place and never be disturbed again; nor shall the wicked continue to oppress them as they did, in the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel; I will give them rest from all their enemies. The Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House. Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established for ever.”’

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 88:2-5,27,29

Second reading	Romans 16:25-27 ©
Glory to him who is able to give you the strength to live according to the Good News I preach, and in which I proclaim Jesus Christ, the revelation of a mystery kept secret for endless ages, but now so clear that it must be broadcast to pagans everywhere to bring them to the obedience of faith. This is only what scripture has predicted, and it is all part of the way the eternal God wants things to be. He alone is wisdom; give glory therefore to him through Jesus Christ for ever and ever. Amen.

Second reading

Glory to him who is able to give you the strength to live according to the Good News I preach, and in which I proclaim Jesus Christ, the revelation of a mystery kept secret for endless ages, but now so clear that it must be broadcast to pagans everywhere to bring them to the obedience of faith. This is only what scripture has predicted, and it is all part of the way the eternal God wants things to be. He alone is wisdom; give glory therefore to him through Jesus Christ for ever and ever. Amen.

Gospel	Luke 1:26-38 ©
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

Gospel

Luke 1:26-38 ©

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

Sunday, December 21, 2008
Advent Weekday

First Reading:
Psalm:
Second Reading:
Gospel:

2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16
Psalm 89:2-5, 27, 29
Romans 16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38

A man who governs his passions is master of the world. We must either command them, or be enslaved by them. It is better to be a hammer than an anvil.

-- St. Dominic