4th
Sunday of Advent C - Dec. 22, 2025
Micah 5:1-4a; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke
1:39-45
Theme:
Christmas is Saying Yes to God and Letting Him Make Us his Missionaries
We are on the Fourth and last Sunday of
our Advent Journey, a time of preparation and repentance for Jesus' “three
comings” (at Christmas, the end of time, and his daily coming into our lives).
The liturgy of the first Sunday, with the candle of hope lit, urged us to
always stay awake in prayer and with hope. On the second Sunday, we lit the
candle of peace, and the Scripture readings called us to prepare the spiritual
ways of the Lord, which are our relationships with God and our brothers and
sisters that sins damage and transform into spiritual mountains, hills,
valleys, and crooked roads. Hence, we must repent. The liturgy of the third
Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday (Rejoicing Sunday), with its candle of
joy lit, taught us that the Advent season is the time we await the coming of
our Lord, not with sadness, anxieties or worries, but with joy and gladness
(first and second readings). To rejoice in the Lord always, we must be in good
spiritual relationships with God and our fellow humans. Hence, Like the crowds,
tax collectors, and soldiers in the Gospel we heard, we, too, should ask: “What
should we do today, or what sins should we confess to rejoice in the Lord
always on Christmas?” Now, on this fourth and last Sunday, with the candle of love
lit, the Scripture readings teach us that celebrating Christmas is saying Yes
to God with love, Faith, Obedience, and Courage so that he can be born into our
hearts, transform us, and use us to save our brothers and sisters. In the first
reading, prophet Micah, who lived eight centuries before Jesus was born,
proclaims that a long-awaited ruler from the line of David will come from the
little town of Bethlehem. This is the hometown of the Virgin Mary, whose story
we heard in the Gospel. The Blessed Mother Mary left her town, Bethlehem, and
went to the Judean hills to visit her older cousin Elizabeth and share the Good
News of the Infant Jesus she held in her womb. Elizabeth told her that she was
blessed because she said Yes to the will of God. The second reading tells us why
Jesus was born: He was born into the world to be himself an offering according
to God’s will. On this Christmas, Jesus will be born in our hearts and families
to make us the offerings according to God’s will. Therefore, we will be blessed
like the Blessed Mother Mary if we say Yes to God’s will with love, faith,
obedience, and courage.
Our Gospel passage is the Visitation of
the Blessed Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. It immediately follows the
Announcement of the Birth of Jesus (vv. 26-38) and precedes the canticle of
Mary (vv. 46-56). Even though some scholars consider our pericope a separate
story from the Announcement of the Birth of Jesus, seeing both texts as one
(vv. 26-45) and our passage as the epilogue is realistic. So, Luke situates
both the announcement of the birth of Jesus and Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth
after the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist (vv. 5-25). Luke’s
pattern of setting John the Baptist before Jesus has a purpose. Especially in
our text, with the revelatory words of Elizabeth about the divine identity of
Mary and the two Infants in their wombs (vv. 42-45), Luke aims to clarify the
relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus. John the Baptist is the mere
precursor of Jesus, and Jesus is the Messiah sent by God. This was to answer
his contemporaries because there was tension and misunderstanding between the
followers of John the Baptist and those of Jesus regarding the divine identity
of their masters.
This Gospel text is a narrative account
with prophetic words. It has two parts. The first part is the narrator's
comments about Mary's trip, her greeting to Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s reaction
after hearing Mary’s greeting (vv. 39-41). The second part is Elizabeth’s prophetic
words, which reveal the divine identities of Mary (Blessed and Mother of her
Lord) and the Infant she holds in her womb (Blessed and Lord) (vv. 4-45).
In
the passage that precedes our story, Luke told us that Mary said Yes to the
angel of the Lord, accepting God’s will to be done to her (see Lk 1:38). Now, in the first part of today’s Gospel
passage (vv. 39-41), Luke recounts that Mary set out and traveled in haste to
the Galilean hills to visit her cousin Elizabeth and share with her the Good
News of the Infant Jesus she held in her womb. Here, Mary becomes a disciple. She
travels hurriedly to fulfill the discipleship duty of announcing the Good News.
Before celebrating Christmas in just two days, God wants us to say “Yes,” as
the Blessed Mother Mary did, confirming that we agree to let his will be done
to us. His will consists of accepting his Son Jesus to be born into our hearts
and families and letting him transform and make us his missionaries, who spread
the Good News of joy, peace, justice, and love that the Baby Jesus brings us. Note
that the young lady Mary traveled a long distance and alone from Bethlehem to
the Judean hills (Luke did not say the name of the town where Elizabeth lived,
but tradition locates it as En Kerem, near Jerusalem, probably about 75 miles
from Nazareth). This detail shows her courage and determination to be a disciple.
Let us overcome any fear and all problems that may prevent us from fulfilling
our discipleship duty of sharing the Good News with our brothers and sisters.
The
second part of our Gospel (vv. 42-45) recounts that upon receiving the greeting
of Mary, or to say it better, upon meeting the Infant Jesus in Mary’s womb, the
Infant John the Baptist in the womb of Elizabeth leaped with joy, and his
mother was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then, Elizabeth pronounced the prophetic
words that revealed the divine identity of Mary (the Most Blessed and Mother of
the Lord) and Jesus (the Blessed and Lord). Jesus wants to continue to bless God’s
people around us. That is why he needs you and me, as he needed his Mother Mary,
to carry him wherever he wants to go and to whomever he wants to meet and
bless. This is what Christmas is about.
May
this Eucharistic celebration enable us to imitate the Most Blessed Mary by
saying Yes to God’s will, fulfilling our discipleship duty of announcing the
Good News of Christmas to others, and taking the baby Jesus wherever he wants
to go and to whomever he wants to visit and bless. Amen.
Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD
Pastor At Holy Family Catholic Church
in Jackson, MS
SVD USS Biblical Apostolate
Coordinator
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