PREPARING FOR JESUS’ COMING

IV SUNDAY OF ADVENT - Micah 5:1-4

The counting down for the great celebration of Christmas has started. And in this last Sunday of Advent, the Church puts us in the company of Mary, the woman Elisabeth called, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “the most blessed of all women”.

We may ask ourselves why is she blessed in so special  way that sets her apart from all other women. She is blessed, because she was highly favoured by God, who chose her and prepared her to be the mother of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Saviour.

The Prophet Micah had announced long ago that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem, and that people will have to wait for “the time when she who is to give birth gives birth.”

When he comes,

“He will stand and feed his flock

with the power of the Lord,

with the majesty of the name of his God.

They will live secure, 

for from then on 

he will extend his power

to the ends of the land.

He himself will be peace.”

We must prepare ourselves to welcome the Prince of Peace, who comes to live among us. And we must do it in the company of Mary. She teaches us to recognise and welcome God’s gift, and she guides us in a hymn of thanksgiving and praise to this God who never forgets his promises of life and salvation, which come from his love and mercy. And with Mary - a woman of faith - we must believe God’s word. She is blessed, because she “believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.” (Lk 1:45).

St. Anselm, in one sermon about the blessedness of Mary, speaks about the greatness of the mystery of Incarnation in these words:

“God, then, is the Father of the created world and Mary the mother of the re-created world. God is the Father by whom all things were given life, and Mary the mother through whom all things were given new life. For God begot the Son, through whom all things were made, and Mary gave birth to him as the Saviour of the world. Without God’s Son, nothing could exist; without Mary’s Son, nothing could be redeemed.” (St. Anselm)

Indeed, Mary is the mother of the Redeemer, the one who came to recreate us so that, by following and imitating him, we may become true images of God.

As the letter to the Hebrews tells us, he came to carry out God’s plan: “Here I am! I am coming to obey your will.” (Heb 10:7). The first Adam rejected God’s plan, and tried to substitute it by his own plan, which only brought disaster and chaos. Jesus Christ is the Second Adam who to restore creation to its wholeness.