Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent
(Judges 13:2-7.24-25a; Luke 1:5-25)
Today’s readings sound definitively premodern. Many couples today do not want to have any
children, and most do not want more than one or two. In these Scriptures Manoah’s wife and
Elizabeth consider themselves disgraced for not having given birth. Then they hear from God.
The two women will not only have children. Their children will become outstanding in
their respective times. Manoah’s wife’s
son Samson will wreak havoc on the Philistines, Israel’s archenemies in the
period of the Judges. John will prick
the consciences of the entire nation of Israel to turn from sin.
Christmas celebrates human life. It says, at its root, that human life is so wonderful
that God assumed it to present Himself to the world. We should embrace it not only for what it
offers us as individuals but for what we might offer others. Christ taught us as much. His life testifies superlatively to the truth
that life is not a commodity to be exploited but a gift to be shared.
