Fourth
Sunday of Advent B
December
18, 2011
Reading
I: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16
Responsorial
Psalm: 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29
Reading
II: Romans 16:25-27
Gospel:
Luke 1:26-38
When
King David was settled in his palace,
and the LORD had given him
rest from his enemies on every side,
he said to Nathan the
prophet,
"Here I am living in a house of cedar,
while the
ark of God dwells in a tent!"
Nathan answered the king,
"Go,
do whatever you have in mind,
for the LORD is with you."
But
that night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said:
"Go, tell my
servant David, 'Thus says the LORD:
Should you build me a house to
dwell in?'
"'It was I who took you from the pasture
and
from the care of the flock
to be commander of my people Israel.
I
have been with you wherever you went,
and I have destroyed all
your enemies before you.
And I will make you famous like the great
ones of the earth.
I will fix a place for my people Israel;
I
will plant them so that they may dwell in their place
without
further disturbance.
Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict
them as they did of old,
since the time I first appointed judges
over my people Israel.
I will give you rest from all your
enemies.
The LORD also reveals to you
that he will establish a
house for you.
And when your time comes and you rest with your
ancestors,
I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your
loins,
and I will make his kingdom firm.
I will be a father to
him,
and he shall be a son to me.
Your house and your kingdom
shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm
forever."
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin's name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
"Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
"Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
"Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom there will be no end."
But Mary said to the angel,
"How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?"
And the angel said to her in reply,
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God."
Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word."
Then the angel departed from her.
For the next three weeks I am going to celebrate the mystery of Christmas by immersing myself in its mythology. I will step outside the realms of dogma, biology, historical truth and the like, and live instead in a world of symbol and poetry, a fantastic world – a world of realities beyond the reach of formulated faith or experimental sciences.
In a way, I could illustrate what I am about by comparison with something almost its opposite. I could, if I were so inclined, spend the next three weeks engrossed in the cosmos through images from the Hubble telescope. The universe it turns out is not what it seems. The stars at night do not travel across the dome of sky above, weaving inscrutable patterns through astrological time. Through our great telescopes we can “see” new images of vast galaxies swirling through immense clouds of gas, new stars exploding into life even as collections of fiery matter are annihilated in black holes. After three weeks I could go back to work in the new year, a little more familiar with these other dimensions, but comfortably at home again in my everyday 'reality'.
When I am living in this world of mythology I will not shut down my reasoning mind. Rather I will work it hard, following threads connecting primordial themes and everlasting values.
To work! Mark begins his proclamation of Jesus the Christ in a matter of fact way. John appears in the wilderness, and soon Jesus of Nazareth comes to John for baptism. The story unfolds from there. So we ask, why did the compilers of the other gospels, especially Matthew and Luke, feel it was necessary to create stories about the origins of Jesus? We will stay with Luke's account, and we will look at it as pure mythology. The impact of this mythological introduction is to declare that the gospel of Jesus of Nazareth represents a New Creation, a New Covenant, a New Exodus and a New Presence of God with his people.
The agent of this newness is the spirit, the same spirit that hovered over the waters to bring order where chaos ruled. The bible says “In the beginning...”. Luke's gospel says “At that time...” to suggest that underlying his mythological scenarios there is an historical actuality.
Some key moments in mythological time:
In the beginning, the Bible says, all was chaos, and the spirit hovered over the waters.
Then, in the course of time, the Lord said to Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, yet he was old and his wife passed the age of having children. But Abaham believed in the promise and his faith/trust made him a 'holy' man.
Moses saw a burning bush, and as he went to have a look, he heard a voice coming out of the flames: Come no closer: the ground you stand on is holy ground... go, tell Pharoah to elt my people go. Tell him: “The One who makes things happen” sends you.
When the temple was re-dedicated ready, celebrations lasting days were held to cleanse the building. Then the presence of the Lord came into the holy of holies like a cloud that filled the temple, and no man could enter in.
In the scene in today's gospel passage, the angel says to Mary: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”
Mythological figures in the drama of the New Creation:
Adam and Eve formed of clay, brought to life by the breath of the Lord, have the power to choose, to make life and death decisions for good or ill.
Abraham was the father of all believers: because he put his hope/trust in a promise.
Moses did the impossible, even leading his people through the sea.
David wanted to build a house for the Lord, and was told: Is it for you to build me a house? I will make you a house.
And Mary said: “Let it be done to me as you say.”
The New Creation begins with a virgin, a young, inexperienced woman, puzzling over a destiny that was far and away beyond her normal expectations of what life might have in store for her.
The spirit that hovered over the waters, that called Abraham, that filled the temple, that makes its dwelling in his people: The spirit will overshadow you! And by the way, Elizabeth is having a baby “because nothing is impossible with God.”
Do I believe that these
things happen, that young women conceive babies without intercourse,
that old women become pregnant long after time? Wrong questions!
Do I
believe that nothing is impossible with God? Yes.
Do I believe that I am called, and every single individual on this planet is called to a destiny beyond imagining? Yes.
Do I believe that the power of the spirit of the Most High overshadows me? Yes.
Do I believe that what
may come to birth through my trust and love will be holy, and may be
said to be “of God”? Yes.
Do I think that any of this is out of the ordinary? No.
Is it extraordinary, amazing, exciting,
wonder-full? You bet it is!
Do I love Christmastide? Oh yes, like I love springtime, and new-born babies, and children fascinated with Santa Claus, and making contact with family and friends in our once a year time of celebration.