In two days, we will not only celebrate the 4th Sunday of Advent this Sunday morning, but we will celebrate Christmas Eve that same evening. Today’s Mass readings help prepare us for the true meaning of Christmas at a time when many of us are probably preoccupied with other things, such as buying last-minute gifts, decorating our homes, or winding things down at work before our Christmas break.
Mary’s song of the Magnificat is filled with extraordinary proclamations about God as Mary expresses a remarkable strength of belief. Sister Elizabeth Johnson, a retired professor of theology at Fordham University in New York, remarks that “Mary’s Magnificat …shows a woman whose consciousness is deeply rooted in the heritage and wisdom of the strong women of Israel. Knowledge about the liberating traditions of her own people, (the Virgin Mary), this friend of God, stands (out) as a prophet.”
We also hear from Hannah in our first reading today; she is another prophetic woman of Israel. Hannah brings her son, Samuel, to the Temple to dedicate him to God and to leave him there under the tutelage of the prophet Eli. Hannah does this to fulfill her promise to God for answering her prayers and giving her a son. Hannah is one of many faithful Jewish women in Holy Scripture and in the Sacred Tradition that Mary was aware of as she joyfully sings the Magnificat in today’s Gopsel.
We have heard from Mary, Elizabeth, and Hannah this last week of Advent. Their words direct us toward the true meaning of Advent in the midst of our busy secular world. As God manifested himself in the humble manger in Bethlehem, he reminds us that in our modern world, the true divine presence is still among us in many ways. The Magnificat in today’s Gospel reminds us that God loves us, that he desires us to express this love to him and to others in our daily life of faith. God touches us through others. Likewise, God touches others through our presence to them just as Mary brought God to her cousin Elizabeth through her presence and through her words. Let us pray that God may open our eyes, our hearts, and our hands to the stirrings of God in our lives, especially in the ways he comes to us during Advent and Christmas.
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