A Thrill of Hope: Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent – Year C

Once upon a time,
in the early ages of the world,
people believed that storms and droughts and sickness
were sent by angry gods and goddesses.
To the ancient people, the universe was a fearful place,
a place of chaos, a place of danger,
and the only way to stay safe
was to offer sacrifices to try and please the gods.
Ancient peoples would sacrifice a portion of the crops,
they would sacrifice animals,
and in some cases, they even sacrificed humans.

But then came a people who learned the truth.
God revealed himself to the chosen people as the one God, the only God,
and made a covenant with them through Abraham:
He would be their God, and they would be his people.
He promised them a land flowing with milk and honey.

And although the people tried to live out their part of the covenant,
they often failed to do God’s will.
They worshipped a golden calf
while Moses was receiving the Law on Mount Sinai.
They grumbled and complained as they traveled through the desert.
But God remained ever faithful,
leading them through the desert to the promised land,
eventually anointing David as their king.

And yet still the people struggled to obey the will of God.
King David himself sent Uriah to his death,
so he could have Uriah’s wife Bathsheba.
Solomon’s sons fought among themselves,
dividing up the kingdom,
and making it vulnerable to attack
from the Babylonians and the Assyrians.

The leaders of the people betrayed the covenant,
and worshipped the false gods of their conquerors.
They slipped ever more into sin and death.

And although the prophets tried to call the leaders back to righteousness,
it became ever more clear that the people could not do it on their own.
They were trapped by their own pride, envy, lust, anger, gluttony.
They needed help.
And God promised a savior,
a king who be greater even than David.
Through the prophets,
God promised the people,
“A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse.”
“He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock
by the strength of the LORD…
He shall be peace.”
“Every valley shall be lifted up,
every mountain and hill made low.”

And so the chosen people waited.
And waited.
They waited all the long years they were in exile.
They waited all the long years after they returned from exile.
They waited as they were conquered by the Greeks,
and they waited as the Greeks were then conquered by the Romans.
For decades they waited;
for generations they waited;
for centuries they waited.

As the Christmas hymn goes,
“Long lay the world in sin and error pining.”
The world, the universe, pined for the one who would come to save it.

And then, one day,
when the time was just right,
a messenger was sent by God:
Gabriel, the angel of the Lord.
And the entire universe watched in suspense,
peeking down upon earth
to see who Gabriel was sent to visit,
and how God’s message would be received.

Gabriel was not sent to world leaders,
or religious leaders.
or business leaders.
He was not sent to a rich man, to an influential man,
or to any man at all.

Gabriel was sent to a young girl,
a quiet young woman of faith,
who lived an ordinary, simple life.

Gabriel had a message for this young girl,
a proposal.
Because God never forces his will on another,
he only invites.
And as he sent his proposal, his invitation,
the universe held its breath.
How would she answer?
What would she say?
The universe hung in the balance.

In a meditation by Saint Bernard, the universe says to Mary:

You have heard, O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a son;
you have heard that it will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit.
The angel awaits an answer;
it is time for him to return to God who sent him.
We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion;
the sentence of condemnation weighs heavily upon us.

The price of our salvation is offered to you.
We shall be set free at once if you consent…

Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you,
O loving Virgin, in their exile from Paradise.
Abraham begs it, David begs it.
All the other holy patriarchs, your ancestors,
ask it of you, as they dwell in the country of the shadow of death…
for on your word depends comfort for the wretched,
ransom for the captive, freedom for the condemned,
indeed, salvation for…the whole of your race.

Answer quickly, O Virgin.
Reply in haste to the angel…

Why do you delay, why are you afraid?…
See, the desired of all nations is at your door,
knocking to enter….

Arise, hasten, open.
Arise in faith, hasten in devotion,
open in praise and thanksgiving. 

“Behold the handmaid of the Lord,” she says,
“be it done to me according to your word.” 

She said “yes.”
Mary said “yes.”

And the universe erupted in joy.

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

After all the long years of waiting,
after centuries of being unfaithful to the covenant,
finally, one of our people says yes, totally and completely.

So when Mary visits Elizabeth,
John the Baptist jumps for joy, expressing the elation of the universe.
And Elizabeth welcomes her by calling her “blessed.”

Mary is blessed for two reasons:
First, she was chosen by God to bear his Son.
It is a blessing to be chosen.
And second, she said yes to that invitation.
It is a blessing that she accepted the will of God,
she accepted God’s invitation.

Today we are reminded of the essential part Mary played
in our salvation.
We are also reminded that Mary is our model of discipleship.

For we, too, have been chosen by God to bear his Son.
We have been given the great blessing of being chosen for Baptism,
chosen to carry Christ within us,
to be Christ, in fact.

God also sends his invitation to us
and invites us to play a part in the salvation of the world.

In our day, people still struggle to stay true to the covenant.
Leaders in all areas of life,
political, religious, and business,
fail to live up to their calling.
The world still needs a savior, still longs for the Messiah.
“Long lay the world in sin and error pining.”

And so we, who live ordinary simple lives, like Mary,
are invited to bring Christ into the world:
to feed the hungry,
to clothe the naked,
to care for the sick,
and visit the imprisoned.
To be meek,
to hunger and thirst for righteousness,
to be merciful, to be peacemakers.
To turn the other cheek,
to forgive not seven times,
but seven times seventy times.
To accept our crosses daily.

This is the invitation,
to carry Christ within us.
The universe holds it breath, waiting for our reply,
and says to us as it said to Mary:

Why do you delay, why are you afraid?…
See, the desired of all nations is at your door,
knocking to enter….

Will we accept the invitation?
We have only to say, as Mary did,
“Be it done to me according to your word.”

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