Homily
for the 4thSunday of Advent (Cycle C)
Based
on (Gospel), (First Reading) and (Second Reading)
From
the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”
VISITATION
The Gospel reading for 4th
Sunday of Advent is from Lk 1:39-45.
Verses 39, 40 and 41 says: Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could to a town in
the hill country of Judah.t She went into Zechariah’s house and
greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child
leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Footnote t
says “Commonly identified with Ain Karim, about 5 m. W of Jerusalem.”
Parallel text for verse 41 is Lk 1:16 that says: for he
will be great in the sight of the Lord; he must drink no wine, no strong drink.j
Even from his mother’s womb he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. Footnote
j says “Several OT texts lie
behind this remark, especially the law of the nazirite, cf. Nb 6:1+.”
Verse 42 says: She gave a
loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb.
Parallel texts are:
1. Jg
5:24 - Blessed be Jael among women (the
wife of Heber the Kenite);t among all women that dwell in tents may
she be blessed. Footnote t says “Probably a gloss derived from 4:11,17,21.”
2. Jdt
13:18 - Uzziah then said to Judith:b
‘May you be blessed, my daughter, by God Most High, beyond all women on earth;
and may the Lord God be blessed, the Creator of heaven and earth, by whose
guidance you cut off the head of the leader of our enemies. Footnote b
says “Vulg. Text is different but
develops the same themes.”
Verse 43, 44, 45 say: Why should I be honored with a visit from the mother of my Lord?u
For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for
joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord
would be fulfilled.v Footnote u says “‘my
Lord’, i.e. the Messiah.”; and
Footnote v says “‘the Lord’, i.e. God. Or ‘And blessed are
you who have believed, because what has been promised to you by the Lord will
be fulfilled’.”
Parallel text of verse 45 is Jn 20:29 that says: Jesus said to him: ‘You believe because you
can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’ m Footnote
The First Reading is from Mic 5:1-4. Verse 1 says: But
you, (Bethlehem) Ephrathah, the leasta of the clans of Judah, out of
you will be born for me the one who is to rule over Israel; his origin goes
back to the distant past, to the days of old.b Footnote
a says “‘the least’ Greek;
‘small’ Hebr.; Hebr. and Greek add ‘to
be.’; and Footnote b says “Ephrathah
(to which Micah apparently attaches the etymological meaning of ‘fruitful’,
connecting it with the birth of the Messiah) originally indicated a clan
related to Caleb, 1 Ch. 2: 19,24,50 and settled in the district of Bethlehem, 1
S. 17:12, Rt. 1:2; the name later came to be used of the town itself, Gn.
35:19; 48:7; Jos. 15:59; Rt. 4:11, hence the gloss in the text. Micah is
thinking of the ancient origin of the dynasty of David, 1 S 17:12; Rt. 4:11,
17, 18-22; in ‘(Bethlehem) Ephrathah’ the evangelist will recognize an
indication of the Messiah’s birthplace.
Parallel texts are:
1. Gn
49:10 - The scepter shall not pass from
Judah, nor the mace from between his feet, until it comes to whom it belongs,g
to whom the peoples shall render obedience.h Footnote
g says “‘he to whom it belongs’ (following the versions), i.e. ‘to whom the
scepter belongs’, a veiled prophecy of a Judah king who is to rule over the
nations. The oracle possibly refers to David but to David as a type of the
Messiah, as Jewish and Christian tradition understand”; and Footnote h
says “Lit. ‘to whom the obedience belongs’, with Hebr. ; the versions read ‘
the hope’, thus making the messianic sense of the passage explicit.
2. Rt
1:2 - The man was called Elimelech, his
wife Naomi and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion;a they were
Ephrathites from Bethlehem of Judah. They came to the country of Moab and
settled there. Footnote a says “The
names may be fictitious and chosen for their meaning: the two sons, who die
young, are Mahlon (‘sickness’) and Chilion (‘pining away’); Orpah means ‘she
who turns away’ (1;14). Ruth (the beloved), Naomi ‘my fair one’, Elimelech ‘my
God is king’.”
3. Mt
2:6 - And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means least among
the leaders of Judah, for out of you will come a leader who will shepherd my
people Israel.
4. Jn
7:42 - Does not scripture say that the
Christ must be descended from David and come from the town of Bethlehem?t
Footnote t says “Add. ‘where David was’, ‘of David’, or
‘where he was’. Only Christ’s intimates knew that he had been born in Bethlehem.”
5. Is
9:5 - For there is a child born for us,
a son given to us and dominion is laid on his shoulders; and this is the name
they gave him: Wonder-Counselor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince of Peace.c
Footnote c says “A prophetic proper name, cf. 1:26+. The
child possesses to a supreme degree all the qualities of all the great figures of
his race: the wisdom of Solomon, the valor of David, the virtues of Moses and
the patriarchs, Cf. 11:2. Christian tradition and the Christian liturgy apply
these titles to Christ, presenting him as the true Immanuel.”
Verse 2, 3 and 4 say: Yahweh is therefore going to abandon them till the time when the one
who is to give birthc gives birth. Then the remnant of his brothers
will come back to the sons of Israel. He will stand and feed his flock with the
power of Yahweh, with the majesty of the name of his God.d They will
live secure, for from then on he will extend his power to the ends of the land.
He himself will be peace. He will deliver us from Assyria should it invade our
country, should it set foot inside our frontiers. Footnote c says “Reference
to the mother of the Messiah. Micah is perhaps thinking of the famous oracle of
the alma, Is. 7:4+, delivered by Isaiah about 30 years earlier”; and
Footnote d
says “‘his God’; Hebr. ‘Yahweh his
God’.”
Parallel text is Is 7:14 that says: The Lord himself therefore, will give you a
sign.h It is this: the maideni is with child and will
soon give birth to a son whom she will callj Immanuel.k
Footnote h says “The prophecy of Immanuel is one of the
outstanding royal Messiah texts of Isaiah. Many interpreters identify the
proffered ‘sign’ with the birth of the future king Hezekiah son of Ahaz. The
hopes of Israel had rested, since Nathan’s prophecy, 2 S. 7:1+,on the
permanence of the Davidic dynasty. But
the solemnity of the oracle and the symbolic name of the child show that the
prophet sees more in this royal birth than dynastic continuity, namely, a
decisive intervention of God, towards the final establishment of the messianic
kingdom spoken of in 9:1-6 and 11:1-9. Thus the prophecy of Immanuel goes
beyond the person of Hezekiah; the
evangelist, Mt. 1:23, quoting Is. 7:14,
Mt. 4:15-16 quoting Is. 8:23-9:1, cf. Jn. 1:5, followed by the whole Christian
tradition, see in it a hidden prophecy
of the birth of Christ. In its immediate application, however, the ‘sign’ is
twofold: it foretells the deliverance of the capital and dynamic continuity,
but also the disasters to be sustained both by Judah and by her enemies.; Footnote
i says “The
Greek version reads ‘the virgin’ , being more explicit than the Hebr. Which
uses almah, meaning either a young girl or a young recently married, woman.
This LXX reading is, however, an important witness to an early Jewish
interpretation, an interpretation adopted by the evangelist: Mt. 1:23 accepts
the text as a prophecy of the virginal conception of Jesus; Footnote j says “‘she’;
‘thou’ some Hebr. and Greek MSS; ‘he will be called’ Vulg.; and Footnote k says “Immanuel means ‘God with us’; cf. 8:8,10,
Ps. 46:7, 11. It is a prophetic name, cf. Is. 1:26+.”
The Second Reading is from Heb 10:5-10. Verses 5, 6 and 7 say: …and this is what he said, on coming into the
world: You who wanted no sacrifice or
oblation, prepared a body for me. You took no pleasure in holocaust or
sacrifices for sin; then I said, just as
I was commanded in the scroll of the book, ‘God, here I am! I am coming to obey
your will.’
Footnote
Parallel text for verse is Ps 40:6-8 that says: You, who wanted no sacrifice or oblation, openedb
my ear, you asked no holocaust or sacrifice for sin; (v. 6) then I said, ‘Here
I am! I am coming!” In the scroll of the book am I not commanded (v. 7) to obey
your will?c My God, I have always loved your Law from the depths of
my being. Footnote b - Lit ‘dug out’. God sees to it that his
servant knows his will, cf. Is 50:5. A Greek variant, ‘you have fashioned a
body for me, was interpreted messianically and applied to Christ, Heb 10:5; and
Footnote c says “Obedience is better than sacrifice, 1 S
15:22. The ‘book’ is the Law, ‘am I not commanded’ lit. ‘it is laid down for
me’, the Jewish textual tradition punctuates differently, so also Greek which
translates ‘it is written of me’, suggesting a messianic meaning.”
Verse 8 says: Notice that he
says first: You did not want what the
Law lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the holocausts and the sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them…
Parallel text is Mt 26:29 that says: And going on a little further he fell on his face and prayed. ‘My
Father,’ he said ‘if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let
it be as you, not I, would have it’n (v. 39). Again, a second time,
he went away and prayed: ‘My Father,’ he said ‘if this cup cannot pass by
without my drinking it, your will be done!’ (v. 42). Footnote
n
says “Jesus feels the full ‘force
of the human fear of death; he feels the instinctive urge to escape, gives
expression to it and then stifles it by his acceptance of the Father’s will.”
Verse 10 says: And this will was for us to be made
holy by the offering of his body made once and for all by Jesus Christ.
Parallel texts are:
1.
Heb 9:14,28 - How much more effectively the blood of Christ, who offered himself as
the perfect sacrifice to God through the eternal Spirit,g can purify
our inner self from dead actions so that we can do our service to the living
God (v. 14). Footnote g
says “Var. ‘the Holy Spirit’, cf.
Rm 1:4+.”
2.
Heb 10:12,14 - He, on the other hand, has
offered one single sacrifice for sins, and taking his place forever, at the
right hand of God (v. 12), By virtue of this one offering, he has achieved the
eternal perfection of all whom he is sanctifying (v, 14).
3.
Jn
10:17-18 - The Father loves me, because I lay
down my life in order to take it up again (v. 17). No one takes it from me; I
lay it down of my own free will,j and as it is in my power to lay it
down, so it is in my power to take it up again; and this is the command I have
been given by my Father (v. 18). Footnote j says “Jesus
has life in himself, 3:35+, and no one can rob him of it, 7:30,44; 8:20; 10:39;
he surrenders it of his own will, 10:18; 14:30; 19:11; hence his perfect
control and majestic calm in the face of death, 12:27; 13:1-3; 17:19; 18:4-6;
19:28.”
4.
Ep 5:2…and
follow Christ by loving as he loved you, giving himself up in our place as a
fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God.
5. Heb 7:27…one who would not need to offer sacrifice every day, as the other high
priests do for their own sins and then for those of the people, because he has
done this once and for allg by offering himself. Footnote g says “The
one and only sacrifice of Christ is the center of salvation history, Ac 1:7+.
It closes a long epoch of preparations, 1:1f, cf. Rm 10:4; it occurs ‘at the
appointed time’, Ga. 4:4+, Rm 3:26+, and it begins the eschatological epoch.
Though the Last Day, 1 Co 1:8+; Rm 2:6+, will follow, 2 Co 6:2+, only at some
unspecified, 1 Th 5:1+, time in the future; salvation for the human race has
been in essence certain from the moment when, in the person of Christ, it died
to sin and rose to live again. Heb makes a special point of how the whole of
this hope flow from the absolute, unique, unrepeatable sacrifice of Christ,
7:27; 9:12,26,28; 10:10; cf. Rm 6:10; 1 P 3:18. Being unrepeatable, 10:12-14,
this sacrifice is different from all
others in the O.T. that had to be repeated again and again because they were
unable to actually to save anyone.”
The following is taken from my homilies for December 16 to 25 on the
“Messianic Connections”:
Today’s gospel
narrative, taken from Lk. 1:39-45, talks about Mary’s visit to her cousin
Elizabeth. This gospel will give us our sixth connection to the Messiah, just
like all the other earlier Messianic connections which we have been discussing
since December 16, 2004. As we said, all the connections to these biblical
personages and figures are necessary to establish the link in the minds of the
people to the claim of Jesus Christ to the Messiahship of ancient Israel.
Today’s
gospel narrative, regarding Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth, who was the
mother of John the Baptist, occurred in the town of Ain Karim, a town situated
five miles west of Jerusalem.
This gospel narrative begins
with verses 39 and 40, which says:
“Mary set
out at that time and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country
of Judah. She went to Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth.”
No
parallel text for these verses are given in the Scriptures, except the footnote
regarding the identity of the town.
It continues with verse 41,
which says:
“Now as
soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greetings, the child leapt in her womb and
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit”.
This verse has parallels in the
following places:
- Lk. 1:15 – Even from her mother’s womb, he will be
filled with the Holy Spirit.
- Jr. 1:5 – Before I formed you in the womb I knew
you, before you came to birth I consecrated you. I have appointed you as
prophet to the nations.
- Is. 49:5 – Yahweh called me before I was born,
from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.
- Ps. 2:7 – Let me proclaim Yahweh’s decree: he has
told me, ‘You are my son, today I have become your father’.
- Mt. 11:18 – John came neither eating and drinking,
yet you say ‘He is possessed’.
- Jh. 10:36 – Yet you say to someone the Father has
consecrated and sent into the world, “You are blaspheming”, because he
says, “I am the Son of God”.
- Ga. 1:15 – Then God, who had chosen me while I was
still in my mother’s womb, called through his grace and chose to reveal
his Son in me…
- Rm. 8:29 – They are the ones he chose specially
long ago and intended to become true images of his Son so that His son
might be the eldest of many brothers.
Eventually, the
feeling by Elizabeth as the Holy Spirit filling her was +interpreted according
to these eight foregoing verses which parallels verse 41 of Luke 1. But the following verses, verses 42, 43 and
44, clarify this incident, when it says:
“She gave a
loud cry and said: ‘Of all women, you are the most blessed, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb. Why should I be honored with a visit from the mother of my
Lord. For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt
for joy.”
Hence, the filling
of the Holy Spirit must be interpreted as a feeling of enthusiasm on the part
of Elizabeth when her cousin Mary came to visit her. Even Elizabeth’s feeling
that her child in the womb “leapt for joy”, because of the sound of Mary’s
greeting, has nothing more very
religious to signify.
In fact, the
following two parallels for verse 42 attach more religious meaning to
Elizabeth’s remark about her cousin Mary
upon seeing her than the feeling of the Holy Spirit filling her up:
- Jg. 5:24
– Blessed be Jael among women (the wife of Heber the Kenite), among
all women that dwell in tents may she be blessed.
- Jdt. 13:18 – Judith the raised her voice and said,
‘Praise God! Praise him! Praise God who has not withdrawn his mercy from
the House of Israel, but has shattered our enemies by my hand tonight!
The last verse, verse 45 of this gospel
narrative, says:
“Yes,
blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be
fulfilled.”
A parallel passage had been
found for this in Jn. 20:29, which says:
“Jesus said to him, ‘You believed because you
can see me? Happy are those who have not seen yet believe.’”
With these gospel texts and
their parallel texts in the Bible, one outstanding connection which we could
make with the Messiah, aside from the meaning of all the other words spoken by
the biblical writers, is the word “cousin”.
Elizabeth, the wife
of the priest Zechariah, the parents of John the Baptist, is said here as a
cousin of the Virgin Mary.
In the Bible, we
find a discussion regarding this word. In the discussion regarding the true
kinsmen of Jesus in Lk. 8:19-21, with parallels in Mt. 12:46 and Mk. 3:31-35,
the word ‘brothers” in Mt. 12:46 has an explanation in the footnote of the
Jerusalem Bible saying: “not Mary’s children but near relations, cousins
perhaps, which both Hebrew and Aramaic style “brothers” (Cf. Gn. 13:8, 14:16,
29:15; Lv. 10:4; 1 Ch. 23:22f).
But in yesterday’s
gospel narrative of Lk. 1:26-38, the evangelist Luke referred to Elizabeth as
Mary’s kinswoman (Lk. 1:36), cousin or sister, if we adopt the above
explanation on Mt. 12:46. If Elizabeth a
descendant of Aaron who was a priest (LK. 1:5), and if Mary is the kinswoman or
cousin of Elizabeth, then this makes Mary as a descendant of Aaron who was a
priest.
Because of this
connection between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth, this makes Jesus Christ also
a claimant to the priestly Messiahship as earlier claimed by John. This link
further fortifies our previous assertion that John the Baptist and Jesus Christ
were both legitimate members of an Essene community, because these religious
communities of the Essene were established and composed of the priestly class,
as the original founders of the Essenes were the Maccabeans, the priests that
called themselves “Hasidaeans”, who rose against the foreign conquerors of the
Holy Land in defense of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Conclusion:
In
conclusion, the gospel narrative concerning Virgin Mary’s visit to her cousin
Elizabeth had established the Messiah’s connection to his roots, and further
established his claim to the priestly Messiaship which was at par with John the
Baptist’s priestly Messiahip.
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