The Catholic Calendar for Sunday, December 21, 2003
The Fourth Sunday of Advent


O Come,
Radiant Dawn,
splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:
shine on those lost in the darkness of death.


Scripture from Today's Liturgy of the Word:
Micah 5:1-4
Psalm 80:2-3,15-16,18-19
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-45

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

Some time ago I heard a homily whose main point I've never forgotten. That is, when Mary heard her elderly cousin Elizabeth had conceived and was in her sixth month of pregnancy and just after learning that she herself had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, she went in haste to help Elizabeth.

The image that the Gospel paints for us is of a woman so totally selfless that she puts aside what others might have done in similar circumstances and puts herself at the service of another. This image of selflessness is behavior that we must begin to take upon ourselves so that God may find in us, like he did in Mary, a holy and proper dwelling place.

And what does going in haste to respond to others mean in our particular lives? It doesn't necessarily mean that we have to do extraordinary things, but instead, that we do ordinary things with great love.

As the days of this Advent move closer to the fulfillment of our joyful watching and waiting, may we, through the intercession of the Mother of God and our Mother, become more like her whose soul proclaimed the greatness of the Lord and who responded with urgency to all that genuine love demands of us.

- Donna Nelson, ocds (drn3rd at hotmail dot com)

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posted by joachim at 4:12 AM