Fourth Sunday of Advent

First Reading

Micah 5,1-4

But you (Bethlehem) Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, from you will come for me a future ruler of Israel whose origins go back to the distant past, to the days of old. Hence Yahweh will abandon them only until she who is in labour gives birth, and then those who survive of his race will be reunited to the Israelites. He will take his stand and he will shepherd them with the power of Yahweh, with the majesty of the name of his God, and they will be secure, for his greatness will extend henceforth to the most distant parts of the country. He himself will be peace! Should the Assyrian invade our country, should he set foot in our land, we shall raise seven shepherds against him, eight leaders of men;

Psalmody

Psalm 79

Antiphon

Make your face shine upon us, O Lord, that we may be saved.

O shepherd of Israel, hear us,
you who lead Joseph's flock,

shine forth from your cherubim throne
upon Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh.

O Lord, rouse up your might,
O Lord, come to our help.

God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

Lord of hosts, how long
will you frown on your people's plea?

You have fed them with tears for their bread,
an abundance of tears for their drink.

You have made us the taunt of our neighbours,
our enemies laugh us to scorn.

God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

You brought a vine out of Egypt;
to plant it you drove out the nations.

Before it you cleared the ground;
it took root and spread through the land.

The mountains were covered with its shadow,
the cedars of God with its boughs.

It stretched out its branches to the sea,
to the Great River it stretched out its shoots.

Then why have you broken down its walls?
It is plucked by all who pass by.

It is ravaged by the boar of the of the forest,
devoured by the beasts of the field.

God of hosts, turn again, we implore,
look down from heaven and see.

Visit this vine and protect it,
the vine your right hand has planted.

Men have burnt it with fire and destroyed it.
May they perish at the frown of your face.

May your hand be on the man you have chosen,
the man you have given your strength.

And we shall never forsake you again :
give us life that we may call upon your name.

God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

Second Reading

Hebrews 10,5-10

and that is why he said, on coming into the world: You wanted no sacrifice or cereal offering, but you gave me a body. You took no pleasure in burnt offering or sacrifice for sin; then I said, 'Here I am, I am coming,' in the scroll of the book it is written of me, to do your will, God. He says first You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the cereal offerings, the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them; and then he says: Here I am! I am coming to do your will. He is abolishing the first sort to establish the second. And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ made once and for all.

Reading of the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Luke 1,39-48

Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah. She went into Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth. Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 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 honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? Look, 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.' And Mary said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; because he has looked upon the humiliation of his servant. Yes, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed,

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Homily

We are at the threshold of Christmas and the liturgy makes us listen to Mary's visit to Elizabeth, as if to urge us too to go out of ourselves and our closures. Luke writes that Mary "set out and went with haste" to Judea in order to visit Elizabeth who was visited by God as well. And Elizabeth with gratitude acknowledged God's gift: "This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favourably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people." But from that day Elizabeth had been close at home alone, for five months. She needed an encounter to understand even more what had happened to her. And here is the Mary's visit who contrary to Elizabeth did not stay at home but left. The proclamation Mary received could not stay closed in her room, could not be a secret of her heart. The journey was not easy. But that Word, the same with which God created the world, urged her to go out and meet her elderly cousin. In the encounter between the young Mary and the elderly Elizabeth we can see how the Gospel is communicated and how the Church should live the mission of the Gospel. Mary, with the Word in her womb, is like the Church called to get up and go hastily to the Galilees of this words and communicate the Gospel that saves. Today this visit signifies new urgency. Indeed, our days are increasingly marked by fear of meeting one another, by the fear of welcoming the other, from the haste of creating defensive barriers and building walls of separation, by the habit to be suspicious and indifferent. In such a world it is even more urgent to communicate the Gospel of the "visit," in particular in meeting the poor and those who are expecting a better world. Mary and Elizabeth, two women different in age and condition, invite us to be men and women of the encounter and of the visit, of hospitality and dialogue, of friendship and courtesy. A visit always transforms the person who does it and the one who receives it. Luke writes that in seeing Mary coming into her house, Elizabeth "was filled with the Holy Spirit" and the child in her womb leapt with joy when he heard Mary's greeting. The encounter between the two women opens to another encounter, that between John and Jesus. Pope Francis speaks of the historical strength of the encounter and of its creative power. It is what the Gospel of the Visitation shows us. This is why the Gospel we read urges us to meet, to speak and to welcome. This is how new stories of love and communion grow.