FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
(II Samuel 7:1-5.8-12.16; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38)
Most Christians have heard the word “Incarnation.” However,
not everyone knows what it means. The Incarnation is the mystery in which the
Second Person of the Holy Trinity became man. Although this concept may not sound
strange to us, some would say that it is a contradiction. “How can it be,” they
would ask, “that God, the author of the millions upon millions of stars in the
universe, can become as limited as a human person? It's like putting a mountain
in a shoe box.”
It is not worth trying to explain the possibility now. But
we have to address the issue somehow because it has to do with the gospel of
the mass today and the great feast tomorrow. The Incarnation gave rise to
Christmas as surely as the sun begins the new day. Some think of the
Incarnation taking place with the conception of Jesus at the Annunciation as
indicated in the Gospel passage today. Others reserve the word for when Mary
gives birth to her child. Anyway, it has to do with the coming of God as a human
person.
Instead of reflecting on how God became man or exactly when
he did it, we would do better to consider the reason for his doing so. What
moved the infinite, eternal, and almighty Spirit to limit Himself as a human
person? The reason can be discovered in the description of God in the First
Letter of John: “God is love.” Divine love – not the passion we feel to unite
with another but the willingness to see the good in another – impelled God to
save humanity in its precarious condition.
By "precarious condition," we mean sin. We can
perceive the effects of sin by opening our eyes to what is happening around us.
Millions of innocent lives are at risk in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip due to
war. The sexual revolution has produced millions more children without mother
and father at home to guide them to maturity. An entire generation is
experiencing loneliness, doubt, and inferiority due to the intensive
fascination with social media. Finally, our culture is about to experience an
immense upheaval due to the rejection of God's first commandment remembered in
the Bible: “Be fruitful and multiply…” (Genesis 1:28).
God became man to teach us how to overcome sin in order to
live as righteous people. Furthermore, by his death on the cross he has freed
us from attachment to pride, greed, and lust. We now live supported by the
community of faith with our hopes fixed on eternal life.
Today we celebrate the beginning of this liberation.
However, there are forces that want to rob us of its meaning. Instead of
remembering Christ, the liberator, these forces would impose gifts as the
center of the holiday. Instead of worshiping God, they would substitute
partying and playing. It's not that gifts and parties have no place in our
Christmas celebration. They do. The joy of having our liberator in our midst
brings with it the desire to share the joy with others by giving presents and dancing.
But these activities must leave room for the adoration of the divine child.
As a counterexample to our deviant times we have Mary as
portrayed in the gospel today. She does not think about her own fame or other
benefit from being the mother of the Savior.
Her concern is the service that she will render to God. To Gabriel's proposition,
she responds decisively: “'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; Let it be to me
according to your word'".
We are sinners but redeemed. We celebrate, but always aware
of who and why we celebrate. Yes, let's have a merry Christmas. But also let us
thank God for becoming human like us.
