Advent IV

GOSPEL

(The Archangel Gabriel announces to Mary the fulfilment of God’s promise about the birth of Jesus Christ.)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Luke (1:26-38)
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no husband?” And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will over-shadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 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. For with God nothing will be impossible.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

SERMON

 

In today’s Gospel, we read the account of the Annunciation of the Birth of the Lord. God’s eternal Word was about to become one of us. The Kingdom of God was about to become a reality. Heaven and earth waited for a virgin, a mother in waiting, to agree to become part of God’s plan.  
The meeting of Mary and the Angel is an illustration of living faith. Faith is far more than reciting some doctrines, or fulfilling some ritual acts. Deep faith is the integration of the spiritual and the physical.  Real faith is seen in the union of the visible and the invisible dimensions of a person. St Augustine wrote that Mary, Full of Grace, conceived Jesus in her heart before she conceived him in her womb. She was so attuned to the spiritual, that the spiritual readily became physical within her. The medieval theologian Master Eckhart stated, “If Mary had not first given spiritual birth to God, he would never have been born bodily from her.” 
We need the reminder that we are far more than the sum of our actions. We are far more than our physical attributes. We are also spiritual beings. Like Mary, we can make the spiritual physical. No, we cannot give birth to the Saviour, but we can make his presence a reality in the world. We can do this by being people of God. 
God calls us, like Mary, to particular missions in life. When we do our best to respond to his call we give evidence to his presence in the world. These missions might be to be a faithful and faith-filled husband or wife, father or mother, grandmother or grandfather. The mission may be to be a single man or woman with readiness to reach out to others with God’s love and compassion. The mission may be, right now, to be a holy widow or widower, offering the love cultivated during marriage to those around you. The mission may be to be a good little boy or girl, or a good teenager or young adult, learning how to love as God loves, generously and sacrificially.