Immanuel – “God with Us!”

             In the first reading for the Fourth Sunday of Advent,

the prophet Micah wrote:

 

“He will stand and feed his flock

with the power of the Lord,

with the majesty

of the name of his God.

 

 They will live secure,

for from then on

he will extend his power

to the ends of the land.

He himself will be peace.”

 

            Micah could only trust that Yahweh would soon send another king like David who became a popular military hero when he slayed Goliath in order to bring the Chosen People peace and security.

 

·         Who was this Lord that Micah wrote about almost 700 years before the birth of Jesus?

·         What kind of Lord, were the Israelites expecting? 

·         A King?

·         A General to lead an army?

·         A Lord who would return Israel to its former glory and power?

·         A Lord who would rescue them from their earthly suffering?

·         A Lord that was going to bring them peace?

             We know that the Lord did come – but he went unrecognized by the very people who were looking for him.

They were still looking for and asking where is the Messiah?

·         Where is our Lord when we are in such desperate need of his presence?

·         Why are we being neglected by him?

               And even today, during this present time of incomprehensible pain and suffering, not only in our country, but in countries around the world, people are asking that very same question:

Where is God?

             Saint John of the Cross once wrote that God can seem silent and “obscure” because we can become “blind” to his presence.

             He continues, “an object can be vague and obscure because it is too far distant, or because we have bad eyesight.”

             Being “too far distant” he calls “a dark night of the soul” and “bad eyesight” as the lack of contemplation on our part to the awareness of God’s presence with us.”

            God is always present, but sometimes we are not present to God.

            It’s easy to be aware of God’s presence when we are in a church, but are we aware of God’s presence when we are in school, or shopping at the mall, or visiting a movie theater, or a restaurant or bar?

                         Fr. Ron Rolheiser, in his book The Shattered Lantern wrote,

 “God can be very present within an event – but we can be so self-preoccupied and focused upon our headaches, heartaches, tasks, daydreams, and restless distractions that we can be oblivious to that presence.”

             God was present on that horrific Friday morning at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, and he continues to be present to the people of that community and to all of us – a presence that comes to each of us, from each of us, through the “body of Christ,” a “body”of which you and I have a very specific and important role and part.

             In today’s Gospel Luke writes to us about Mary

 “. . . blessed is she who believed

that the promise made to her by the Lord

would be fulfilled.”

            Mary is important for Luke not because Jesus is her son, but because she actually does what Jesus expects all his followers to do: to hear God’s word and carry it out.

 

Mary is worthy of imitation not because of her special selection by God, but because she always acts on what she hears.

            Elizabeth is given the honor of proclaiming Luke’s Gospel theme as she says to Mary:

“Blessed are you who believed

that what was spoken to you by the Lord

would be fulfilled.”

             In other words Elizabeth says to Mary, you not only listened to what God told you, you are actually going to spend your life carrying through on it.

             It is Mary who trusts in the Lord and becomes a “follower” of her son’s teachings.

             It is Mary who becomes the first “perfect” Christian.

 

“Let us pray, one for the other;

let us pray for each other.”

That the Lord will enable us to understand how precious in His eyes our life is.

 That the Lord will strengthen our faith.

 That the Lord will make us people of hope that we may build a world open to God.

 That the Lord will make help us to glimpse the beauty of the future amid the worries and failures of daily life.

That in the certainty of God’s love and presence, we will live, believe and hope.  Amen.