[00:00:05] Hello! My name is Sally Moriarty-Flask; welcome to From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, December 22, 2024, the Fourth Sunday of Advent. This week's episode is entitled: Humility and Haste and in these readings, we'll explore how Mary, the mother of Jesus, can be an example for us of how we should act despite the demands that pull on us and tear us in so many different directions.
[00:00:44] As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following: In the midst of this busy time of year, are we taking the opportunity to visit those who are lonely or in need of help? Are we praying for the sick or donating to the hungry? Are we giving of ourselves to do God's will?
[00:01:06] Let's begin in prayer: In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:01:11] Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for the many blessings you have brought to us throughout this Advent season. Help us, in this last week before the birth of your Son, to open ourselves to whatever it is you are calling us to do. Shower your grace upon us so that we have the strength to accomplish your will, for we know we can do nothing without you. We ask this through him whose coming is certain, whose day draws near, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:01:47] Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures.
[00:01:53] Our Gospel this week is from Luke 1: 39-45.
[00:02:02] “In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechari’ah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the child leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.’”
[00:02:47] On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, we look toward the First Coming of Jesus and in the Incarnation through the eyes of Mary, his mother. This year, Cycle C, we focus on the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, which follows - in the Scripture - immediately after the Annunciation… when the angel tells Mary that she will become pregnant with Jesus. So, let's dive into this week's passage…
“In those days”
Those first three words… Luke doesn't tell us exactly how much time has passed between the events of the Annunciation and when Mary journeys to visit her kinswoman, Elizabeth. He does however, say…
“Mary arose and went with haste”
[00:03:43] So, in other words, God revealed Mary's mission to her. She is enthusiastic, even if she doesn't - perhaps - completely understand her role just yet. So, haste indicates she didn't really waste a lot of time… she probably packed and got going.
[00:04:04] She would have also had to arrange for travel because she couldn't have gone by herself. So, that… there may have been a bit of a lag in between the two events… but we just don't know, we're not told that. One other thing I want to point out here, her haste may have had another dimension. Mary may very well have been the subject of gossip in a very small town like Nazareth. She was with child, but not yet living with Joseph, her betrothed. It might have felt good to get away from all that for a while and be somewhere else… where she could be useful and not subject to the eyes of judgment - turned her direction - from the other women in the town. And where did she go?
[00:04:57] “into the hill country, to a city of Judah,”
[00:05:01] Now, Mary's destination is a village called Ein Karem, which is in the hills of Judea, about five miles from Jerusalem. That would be a short journey for Zechariah (who himself was a descendant of Aaron, therefore a priest) to go into the city when he was chosen to serve as high priest… if he ever was. But, it was a long journey of 90 miles for Mary, not something she can do in a day, not a few hours walk… this is 90 miles.
[00:05:37] When Luke says: a city of Judah… he's using the tribal name here, the Tribe of Judah, rather than naming a geographic destination.
[00:05:50] What I will do here is include some photos from the village of Ein Karem, which is in the Judean hill country, some pictures of the Church of the Visitation, which is built on the site of what was believed to be the summer home of Elizabeth and Zechariah - which is where Elizabeth would have been during the warmer summer months to make her pregnancy more comfortable - rather than being in the heat of the city. And I will include a picture of an absolutely beautiful statue that's outside the Church… of Mary and Elizabeth, both women showing their pregnant stomachs and greeting each other with apparently great joy… and it's just gorgeous. And I will include those pictures in this week's Instagram post.
[00:06:41] And then Luke tells us…
“she entered the house of Zechari’ah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the child leaped in her womb;”
Remember, the child she's carrying will become John the Baptist. And John is always the precursor of Jesus, no matter where or what the circumstances.
“and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry,”
Now, the Greek word used here for EXCLAIM is anaphōneō. This is the only time that that word appears in the New Testament, but it appears five times in the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) where it is used to describe liturgical singing before the Ark of the Covenant. I'm going to let that sink in for a moment. That is Luke's way of saying that Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant.
[00:07:48] Then Elizabeth goes on…
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”
The knowledge that Mary is with child is granted to Elizabeth by the Holy Spirit. We were told in the previous line - that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, remember? I also want to note here that those particular words would be tremendously familiar to any Catholic that has ever prayed the rosary (which would probably mean every Catholic) because they're part of the Hail Mary prayer. Elizabeth goes on…
“And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
In the Old Testament, the words MY LORD (when Lord is not in all capital letters) is referring to the Davidic Kings. The word that Luke uses here is the Greek word - is Kyrios - and this would have been Kyrios in the Septuagint, but Luke uses that same word here, and it's used as a name for God… in which case it would be spelled all in capital letters. Oftentimes you see that when you read the Old Testament, you'll see LORD (All caps) - that indicates the name of God: Yahweh, which the Jews do not speak out loud, right? So that's why they use LORD or Adonai sometimes.
“For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy.”
There's that acknowledgment, again, of John's role of pointing to Jesus.
“And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
The word BLESSED means happy or fortunate. In the Sermon on the Mount - a lot of those times that Jesus says blessed in the Beatitudes… we find those hard to acknowledge: Blessed are those who grieve; Blessed are those who are persecuted… hard to believe that that's happy or fortunate. In this case, it's pretty easy for us to get that Mary really is blessed – and who… she who believed that there would be a fulfillment… she is fortunate to receive God's favor.
[00:10:12] We also need to contrast here Mary's belief in the Lord's promises - in God's promises made to her through the angel - and what happens as a result of that belief (which is of course well documented in the Scriptures) with Elizabeth's husband, Zechariah, being struck mute because of his unbelief. When he was told that Elizabeth would bear son, he said: Nope, not going to happen. And he was struck mute until after John's birth when he wrote on a slate: His name will be John.
[00:10:53] Then his tongue was freed and he could speak again. Now, our reading ends sort of abruptly here, right? So, let's take this opportunity to think back to the beginning of this episode when I said that Mary can be an example for us. Mary, despite everything that she was going through, put aside her own needs to help Elizabeth.
[00:11:23] Now, anyone who has ever been pregnant recalls - all too well - what that first trimester is like, right? You're tired, your hormones are in high gear, everything rubs you the wrong way, you may have nausea, you may have heartburn, you have strange cravings or aversions… you just don't feel that your body even belongs to you anymore, right? We all know what that's like… anyone that's been pregnant. So, in the midst of all that, if Mary could set aside all of that - could set aside her own needs, her own discomforts - to travel an extensive distance to help Elizabeth, might not that serve as a perfect example for us during this time of year? Actually, at any time of the year, to be honest… the busy demands of a full life, a stressful job, a hectic holiday season with presents to buy and wrap, cards to send, cookies to bake, decorations to set up… these things all pull us in different directions and place demands upon our time and attention, yes, but… what have I been encouraging throughout this entire season of Advent? What has the Church been encouraging throughout this entire season of Advent?
[00:13:05] Quiet, calm, stillness, peace, and, yes, (remember from last week) joy.
[00:13:18] All things that should help us soothe the savage beast of the holiday season and help us focus on what really should be most important: the people around us… the people that don't have anyone around them… and the things that we can do to ease some of the isolation, sadness, and loneliness that can be so prevalent at this time of year.
[00:13:54] That takes us to our First Reading, which is from Micah. It’s Micah…the verses are often labeled 2 – 5a; they're actually the 1st to the 4th verse, but for some reason that's just how Micah is labeled in the Bible.
[00:14:16] So let's begin….
“[Thus says the LORD:] But you, O Bethlehem Eph’rathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who has labor pains has brought forth; then the rest of his brethren shall return to the sons of Israel. And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And this shall be peace.”
[00:15:12] Micah, like Zephaniah from last week, is considered one of the minor prophets. And though his writing was not prolific, he is - Micah is - nevertheless one of the four great prophets of the 8th century BC… along with Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah. So, he's in pretty heady company there. Micah addresses not only the religious issues of his time, but the social and political issues as well. He spoke to both Israel (which is the Northern Kingdom) and Judah (which is the Southern Kingdom) during the reign of King Hezekiah (which was 715 to 686 BC). Hezekiah was a terrible king, and Micah's message of doom and gloom was often - throughout his book - balanced by passages full of hope.
[00:16:14] Micah was fearless in his preaching, so much so that he was willing to run barefoot and naked through the streets of the city to make his message heard. So, let's listen again to the message Micah was so keen to share…
[00:16:34] “[Thus says the LORD:]”
Remember, whenever a passage begins with those words, it means the prophet is speaking directly for God.
[00:16:42] “[Thus says the LORD:] But you, O Bethlehem Eph’rathah”
Okay, let me… let me shed a little bit of light on that. Bethlehem is a small town about five miles outside Jerusalem; Ephrathah is often identified with Bethlehem. Now, it's unclear why… this may have been the ancient name for Bethlehem itself, or it may have been the name of an even smaller town that was absorbed into Bethlehem and the name just stuck… just stuck together - we don't know. But regardless, it’s (the message is) addressed to Bethlehem, that little town five miles from Jerusalem. This little town…
“who are little to be among the clans of Judah,”
It sounds strange… Bethlehem IS part of Judah. But what Micah means here by the word LITTLE is that it is insignificant… it's a tiny, little town… it's a little backwater, right? Insignificant. But what is the promise?
“from you shall come forth for me”
For God
“one who is to be ruler in Israel,”
[00:18:02] From this humble locale shall come the source of the salvation of Israel: the ruler, the king, the Messiah.
“whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.”
In other words, from the Davidic dynasty. And remember, Bethlehem was the hometown of King David… and we hear about that in Samuel… when Samuel goes to anoint one of Jesse's seven sons. And Jesse, remember, parades out all of these sons. David was out shepherding the sheep. He was out in the - in the fields. And every single son presented before Samuel, he said: Nope, that's not him… Nope, that's not him. Until the last one brought in (probably sweaty and dirty and smelly) and it was David - and that was the one.
[00:19:04] “Therefore he shall give them up”
HE meaning the king, the ruler, the Messiah. From David's line will come a king, a descendant of David, to rule the people, yes, but more than a human king! He will be the Messiah… and HE SHALL GIVE THEM UP. What does Micah mean by that? Well, he means the ten lost tribes. They were exiled from the kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in 720 BC. We're not talking here about the Babylonian exile… we're talking about the Assyrians. And when… how long will that last? When will that change?
[00:19:48] “until the time when she who has labor pains has brought forth;”
In other words, she who is to give birth will deliver her child. One possible interpretation of this is that daughter Zion (the female personification of the city of Jerusalem) will give birth to her children… in other words, they… the exiles will return… that's one possibility.
[00:20:16] Another possibility, and this is what we as Christians believe - reading this through the lens of the New Testament - is that Micah is actually referring here to the mother of the Messiah, who Christians see as being Mary.
“then the rest of his brethren shall return to the sons of Israel.”
Jerusalem's inhabitants will return, is what Micah is saying.
“And he”
Again - the king, the more-than-human king… the Messiah.
“he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD,”
The new king, the promised Messiah, will be like a shepherd protecting his flock. And he shall do so how?
[00:21:00] “in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And this shall be peace.”
[00:21:15] I have some trouble with the translation of that phrase. The NAB translates it as: HE SHALL BE PEACE. I think that's a better translation. The word found in the Hebrew text can be translated as: THIS ONE or HE. And there are plenty of instances where that particular word is translated both ways. So, I think - in this particular instance - he fits better: HE SHALL BE PEACE. Because Micah has been talking, throughout this whole passage, about the one who will bring about these promises… who will undertake these actions… and it's the Messiah so why change direction here? HE SHALL BE PEACE makes more sense to me. Now, clearly, Micah was speaking to the people of Israel, and we know precisely historically, when and where that took place.
[00:22:13] But even the earliest Christians - who would have been Jews themselves - who would have known the prophet Micah, who would have been familiar with his writings - saw this passage as a prophecy about the birth of Jesus.
[00:22:36] That is precisely what happens when we read the Old Testament through the lens of the New, and you hear me say that over and over again. And why do we say it that way? Why? Because Saint Augustine said: The New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New.
[00:23:00] We as Christians see Jesus - and his mother Mary - woven throughout this passage, which is why we hear this passage in Cycle C in the week leading up to Christmas.
[00:23:18] Our Responsorial Psalm this week is Psalm 80, and the refrain is:
“Restore us, O God, let thy face shine, that we may be saved.”
[00:23:31] The NAB translates it slightly differently… the first half of the phrase, at least:
“Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.”
So: RESTORE US, O GOD or MAKE US TURN TO YOU… little different in tone and connotation. And here are the verses:
[00:23:55] “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth! Stir up your might, and come to save us! Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock which your right hand planted. The son of man whom you have made strong for yourself! But let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, the son of man who you have made strong! Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name!”
[00:24:37] This Psalm is a Communal Lament, calling upon God as both a shepherd and warrior - two different metaphors, and yet both are intended to evoke God's protection to make the people think about how God has protected them. When the Psalmist says: ENTHRONED UPON THE CHERUBIM he means God's heavenly throne.
[00:25:06] And when he says: STIR UP YOUR MIGHT, COME TO SAVE US - those are cries to God for deliverance. When the Psalmist says: HAVE REGARD FOR THIS VINE WHICH YOUR RIGHT HAND PLANTED that is a prayer for deliverance rooted (sorry for the pun) in the blessings of the past… in the promise of the kingdom. And the term SON OF MAN… note, this is all written in lowercase… son of man appears twice in these verses… and when it's all lowercase like that, it means God's representative among the people. Most likely he's referring here to the king. Then finally the words: GIVE US LIFE, AND WE WILL CALL ON YOUR NAME those are a pledge - a pledge of fidelity… a pledge of belief… made by the people of Israel to God.
[00:26:09] It is so easy to see the message of hope and promise that are woven through the verses of this Psalm and how well they align with the passage from Micah, which then can be seen as being fulfilled in the promise of the Messiah, the Savior.
[00:26:33] And that leads us to our Second Reading, which is from the Letter to the Hebrews 10: 5-10.
[00:26:43] “[Brothers and Sisters:] Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,” as it is written of me in the roll of the book.’ When he said above, ‘You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings’ (these are offered according to the law), then he added, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will.’ He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Okay, beautiful passage. Remember back in October and November, we went through a good part of the Letter to the Hebrews, right? And I explained then that the letter was intended as a grand theological treatise to teach that Christ is both the perfect sacrifice offered to atone for our sins AND the great high priest who offers himself as that perfect sacrifice. Now, another element to that letter is that it was written to encourage a community in crisis and for that reason… actually, for both reasons… but those reasons - those purposes of that letter - make it the perfect vehicle to speak to Christians in every age. So, let's begin…
[00:28:43] “[Brothers and Sisters:] Consequently, when Christ came into the world,”
Meaning the Incarnation - so you can see why it's placed at this time… in this season!
“when Christ came into the world, he said,”
In other words, he taught - during his public ministry - those three years.”
“he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,” as it is written of me in the role of the book.’”
Now, what the author has done here is placed the words of Psalm 40 directly in the mouth of Jesus, which, truth be told, was not an uncommon occurrence, right? The Book of Psalms was one of the books of the Hebrew Bible (what we would call the Old Testament) that was most frequently quoted by Jesus. So, that's not uncommon.
[00:29:54] One other thing I want to point out, though, and I've said it several times, the words of a translation rely heavily - entirely - on the source text. In this passage, we hear Jesus saying: A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME.
[00:30:14] However, if you look up Psalm 40: 6 in the Book of Psalms and read THAT, rather than what is recorded here in Hebrews, you will find the following words:
[00:30:28] “You have given me an open ear” or in the NAB: “a listening ear” “you have given me a listening ear.”
[00:30:36] Fascinating, I think it's another one of those times… you just have to know where the translation came from. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews relies on the Greek text of the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament, the Greek Hebrew Bible) while the Psalm texts are based in Hebrew. So, different source text… so, different translation.
[00:31:04] “When he said above, ‘You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings’ (these are offered according to the law),”
What the author is referring to here are Old Testament sacrifices - all of those sacrifices that are delineated in the books of the law - the first five books of the Bible… the law of the Jewish people… the Old Testament law. And they are all - all of those sacrifices - are offered according to the Mosaic Law, the law of Moses. But all of those sacrifices - all of the Jewish sacrifices - have been superseded by the one perfect sacrifice of Christ. The author of Hebrews goes on and says…
“then he added, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will.’ He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.”
[00:32:09] So again, when the author says: THEN HE ADDED, he's putting these words - again - in the mouth of Jesus.
[00:32:18] “Behold, I have come to do your will”
Abolishing the old Jewish traditional sacrifices in order to establish the One Perfect Sacrifice. In other words, and I've said this before - but I'm gonna say it again - no amount of animal sacrifice, no sacrifice of (and please don't get angry with me, those of you that have pets) but no sacrifice of an unintelligent - meaning no higher thoughts… no higher reasoning… no philosophy… no rhetoric… no higher thoughts - no animal sacrifice can consecrate or sanctify humanity.
[00:33:03] Only the freely given sacrifice of the Incarnate Word of God, Jesus Christ himself, can accomplish that action.
[00:33:17] And that can only be done because he, himself, is perfect… he is divine, he is human (at the same time)… and that's what makes him the perfect sacrifice.
[00:33:34] “And by that will”
In other words, the will of God.
“by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
[00:33:47] How many times did we hear that a couple of months ago when we went through Hebrews? We heard it over and over again. And the Church offers this again to highlight that once-for-all-nature of the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross - by which all of humanity has been saved. It also emphasizes, especially this week, the absolute reality that the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery cannot be separated… ever!
[00:34:26] Those are two realities, based in time and space, and one cannot exist without the other. The Paschal Mystery could not have been accomplished unless Christ was born as a human (fully divine, fully human). And he was born specifically for our salvation, for the Paschal Mystery. Those two things cannot ever be separated.
[00:34:58] And that brings us to the end of our Advent Scriptures. Throughout this season, the Gospels have reacquainted us with important people and events, things we need to hear every year!
The FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT, Jesus himself taught us about the Second Coming… his Second Coming at the end of time.
The SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT gave us John the Baptist preaching a baptism of repentance and at the River Jordan in order to prepare the way for the public ministry of Jesus - and that message of repentance is just as important for us today.
The THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT reminded us that John the Baptist's greatest responsibility - his mission, his purpose, his role - is always to point to Jesus the Messiah, the Lamb of God. No matter how important a prophet John himself might have been, his real singular importance was in pointing to Jesus.
And then this FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT invites us to focus on the ways that Jesus came and dwelt among us… took flesh to dwell within the human race… and we see it through that beautiful, intimate encounter between Mary and her kinswoman, Elizabeth.
[00:36:36] Now we hear similar stories every year in Advent, and we need to hear them year after year so that we never take them for granted. They remind us of God's inestimable love for us, a love so great that he gave us his Son to live among us and brought him not with fanfare - not as a king… not in a palace - but as a simple, vulnerable, humble baby.
[00:37:16] Yes, Advent is almost over… and yes, it's finally time to join the rest of our modern culture in delving straight into the Christmas season, absolutely! But before we give ourselves over totally to the frenzy, let's take just one more quiet breath with Mary, the Mother of our Savior, and learn from her how to be both humble and generous so that we, too, can do God's will. We, too, can accomplish whatever he is asking us to do.
[00:38:13] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
[email protected]
Thank you for listening and until next we meet may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain and may he hold you, safe and secure, in the palm of his hand.
[00:38:34] From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references used to prepare the exegesis of this podcast is available upon request.
Thank you for listening; thank you for sharing this Advent journey with me and God Bless.
