Fourth Sunday of Advent, Cycle C
Prayer
Loving Father,
Our Season of Advent invites us to consider the blessings of heaven found here and in our future. As we look to Your Son’s return, help us to embrace the virtue of patience. May Your will be done and may Your Son return to us in glory. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Commentary
1st Reading: Micah 5:1-4
The Prophet Micah lived in a period when the land of Judah was under siege and the people had lost hope. Their despair soon lead to moral decay.
After Micah accuses them of their infidelities, he appeals to them with a theme of hope. He invites them to consider their beloved Bethlehem (the birthplace of the line of King David) as a place from which a new ruler shall come.
As a Church, we consider this oracle of Micah to be a foreshadowing of what was to happen in Bethlehem when Mary gave birth to the newborn King.
Our Season of Advent now takes a turn. Rather than focusing only on the Lord’s second coming (as in the first 3 weeks), we look to the celebration of Christmas. This First Reading helps us to do just that.
Christmas is our cause for hope! Jesus truly is – as the saying goes – the reason for the season.
Question:
How are you spiritually turning your attention to Christmas?
2nd Reading: Hebrews 10:5-10
Our Second Reading is rather dramatic and seems not to fit within the joyful preparation of the season. Just one Sunday away from Christmas, the words “holocausts and sin offerings” seem to offer a rather somber tone.
However, lest we forget, the purpose of Christ’s taking on our mortal flesh is to replace the old law with its sacrifices. Jesus would come into the world to save the world. He would do this by offering Himself up as a holocaust sacrifice to God for our sins.
The “Reason for the Season,” is not just that Jesus Christ was born, but that God
brought salvation to the world “through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” This truly the greatest Christmas gift we will ever receive!
Question:
Of the gifts you may receive this Christmas, remember the gift of salvation through Christ.
How do you plan to thank God for such a gift?
Gospel: Luke 1:39-45
Over the last two weeks, our attention has been on John the Baptist. The point of our focus was to see that John was “not the Christ,” but rather, a forerunner to the Christ.
In order to drive this point home, the Church has us read the beautiful story of Mary and Elizabeth in the town of Judah in today’s Gospel.
Here, we read that John “leaped for joy” at the coming of the Lord. Filled with the Holy Spirit, it is as if Elizabeth speaks on behalf of the young prophet within her womb. She says, “Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
Immediately, even before his own birth, John is already pointing to the Savior of the World. The Church’s intent is clear as we read from this passage of Luke: “Christ our Lord has come. Let us all sing (and leap) for joy!”
Question:
How will you be able to outwardly express your joy for the true purpose of Christmas this Season?
This Week’s Task
There is a gift that you can give to others that does not need to be wrapped.
Your gift of inviting friends or relatives to Christmas Mass with you and/or inviting them to be a part of your Christ in Our Neighborhood group may forever change their lives.
Ask two people who have not been to Church in a while and give to them the gift of an invitation to Christ.
Group Prayer
Sing or say the Advent of Our God:
The advent of our God
Our prayers must now employ,
And we must meet Him on His road
With hymns of holy joy.
The everlasting Son
Incarnate deigns to be;
Himself a servant’s form puts on To set His people free.
The prayer continues with Psalm 80.
Psalm
Response: Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
from your throne upon the cherubim,
shine forth.
Rouse your power and come to save us.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Once again, O LORD of hosts, look down from heaven, and see; take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
May your help be with the man of your right hand, with the son of man whom you yourself made strong. Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Conclude with an Our Father
Used with permission. All rights reserved. Christ in Our Neighborhood is a Scripture program designed by Bishop John P. Dolan of the Diocese of Phoenix.