Liturgy of the Sunday

Fourth Sunday of Advent

First Reading

Micah 5,1-4

But you (Bethlehem) Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, from you will come for me a future ruler of Israel whose origins go back to the distant past, to the days of old. Hence Yahweh will abandon them only until she who is in labour gives birth, and then those who survive of his race will be reunited to the Israelites. He will take his stand and he will shepherd them with the power of Yahweh, with the majesty of the name of his God, and they will be secure, for his greatness will extend henceforth to the most distant parts of the country. He himself will be peace! Should the Assyrian invade our country, should he set foot in our land, we shall raise seven shepherds against him, eight leaders of men;

Psalmody

Psalm 79

Antiphon

Make your face shine upon us, O Lord, that we may be saved.

O shepherd of Israel, hear us,
you who lead Joseph's flock,

shine forth from your cherubim throne
upon Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh.

O Lord, rouse up your might,
O Lord, come to our help.

God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

Lord of hosts, how long
will you frown on your people's plea?

You have fed them with tears for their bread,
an abundance of tears for their drink.

You have made us the taunt of our neighbours,
our enemies laugh us to scorn.

God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

You brought a vine out of Egypt;
to plant it you drove out the nations.

Before it you cleared the ground;
it took root and spread through the land.

The mountains were covered with its shadow,
the cedars of God with its boughs.

It stretched out its branches to the sea,
to the Great River it stretched out its shoots.

Then why have you broken down its walls?
It is plucked by all who pass by.

It is ravaged by the boar of the of the forest,
devoured by the beasts of the field.

God of hosts, turn again, we implore,
look down from heaven and see.

Visit this vine and protect it,
the vine your right hand has planted.

Men have burnt it with fire and destroyed it.
May they perish at the frown of your face.

May your hand be on the man you have chosen,
the man you have given your strength.

And we shall never forsake you again :
give us life that we may call upon your name.

God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

Second Reading

Hebrews 10,5-10

and that is why he said, on coming into the world: You wanted no sacrifice or cereal offering, but you gave me a body. You took no pleasure in burnt offering or sacrifice for sin; then I said, 'Here I am, I am coming,' in the scroll of the book it is written of me, to do your will, God. He says first You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the cereal offerings, the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them; and then he says: Here I am! I am coming to do your will. He is abolishing the first sort to establish the second. And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ made once and for all.

Reading of the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Luke 1,39-48

Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah. She went into Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth. Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, 'Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.' And Mary said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; because he has looked upon the humiliation of his servant. Yes, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed,

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Homily

This fourth Sunday of Advent brings us to the threshold of the Nativity of the Lord. The Gospel brings us into a house in a village lost at the periphery of the Roman Empire. This is where the Lord begins a new story of salvation. And the Gospel of Luke tells us about it by showing us a meeting between two women. They were not at all relevant for society; indeed, they were the very image of weakness and irrelevance. God chose them so that with them he might begin the story of his new loving relationship with humanity. Mary takes the initiative and goes to visit her elderly cousin. It was not an easy journey, just as the journeys of many young women, sometimes pregnant, are not easy, as they leave their lands to find refugee and welcoming. Unfortunately, very often they do not find the grace of being welcomed and an encounter. Despite the difficulties, as soon as her conversation with the angel finished speaking, Mary "set out and went with haste" to Judea. It is as if she did not want any time to pass between listening to the Word and setting off towards Elizabeth. In this haste - a haste that we will see again in the shepherds who went "with haste" to Bethlehem to meet the Child and in the women who run from the tomb to communicate the Gospel of the Resurrection - we can see the urgency of communicating the Lord's love throughout the world. Mary reminds us of the world's urgent need for encounter and communion. We could say that the little Gospel scene of the encounter between these two women, which takes place before Jesus is even born, underlines the pressing need for welcome and communion in a world which instead seems to be marked by indifference in relationships, distances to be respected, and even self-defence that turns into conflict. And encounter has power: it creates new stories of love and communion, and it gives birth to hope in places where there had been loneliness and abandonment. We could say that this is the urgent need of this Christmas: to multiply fraternity and communion.