The fourth Sunday of Advent is sometimes referred to as “Annunciation Sunday.” The three year cycle of the Lectionary for Sunday Mass always includes an annunciation story on the fourth Sunday of Advent. In Cycle A, we read the story of the angel’s message to Joseph. In Cycle B, the year in which we find ourselves at the present time, we read the story of the angel’s message to Mary. In Cycle C, we hear the annunciation story of John the Baptist.
Another way to look at the Gospels that are proclaimed on the fourth Sunday of Advent might be to say that we read the stories of things that should not be happening. Mary was a virgin. She shouldn’t be with child. Elizabeth was beyond the age of child-bearing. She shouldn’t be awaiting the birth of her first-born. So today we proclaim our faith in the God for whom nothing is impossible. God has chosen to keep his promises made to the children of Israel in such a way that we know that it is God acting, for no human being would be able to do what God has done through Mary and Elizabeth.
The first reading for today’s liturgy tells us the story of King David’s plan to build a Temple for the God of Israel. However, God sends Nathan the prophet to David to tell him to hold off on his plans. Instead of building a house for God, God will build a house for David – a dynasty. Through Nathan, God tells David, “Your house – your dynasty – and your kingdom shall endure forever before me, and your throne shall stand firm forever.” However, after fourteen generations, it seems as if God has forgotten the promise. The Assyrian empire plunders and destroys the House of David and carries the children of Israel back into exile.
The sixty-six chapters of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah all point to how God will fulfill the promise made to King David. We now understand that God fulfilled that promise as no human being ever could. The throne of David has been filled with a son born of the virgin who has been overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. The Temple of Jerusalem has been replaced by a maiden of Nazareth who has brought forth a savior who leads all of us out of our exile, out of our captivity to the taskmaster we call “sin.”
As we gather around the altar today, we look forward to the celebration of the mystery of the Incarnation. God leaps out of heaven to become one of us, to regain the access to God that was lost by Adam. “God with us” is his name, the Lord Emmanuel. By placing our faith in Jesus, we are assured eternal life with God forever. No one could ask for more. God has acted to save those who believe.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator