Visitations The Fourth Sunday of Advent 2021

                                                                 Visitations

The Fourth Sunday of Advent 2021

December 19, 2021

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Micah 5:1-4; Psalm 80; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45

 

Within Advent, we have both a settling down into the reality that Christ will be born for us, and a sense of quickening that the actual birth of a child is on its way. In our current Advent days, we get the sense that the beginnings of our salvation is near at hand. For some, it is likely that this will likely be their last Christmas, or it will be the first year without a loved one. The birth of the child is necessary for us because it reminds us that God has not forgotten us.

 

The Gospel scene portrays Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth and what I like about this scene are the conversations that are not written down. Certainly, Mary and Elizabeth talked about many matters – their common movements in pregnancy, the ways God surprised each, the changes happening in their bodies, the friends and relatives they have in common. What matters in this set of events is the nurturing dialogue and the emotions they shared with one another. It was in this sharing that something greater happened. In their common circumstances, they connected in profound ways and built up bonds of friendship.

 

This coming Christmas season is our moment of visitation with God. Just as Mary and Elizabeth shared their stories with one another, we have the same opportunity to share the news of our day with God. It is an opportunity for nurturing dialogue and a sharing of feelings in which, because of our honesty, something greater happens. It is our point of connection in which we are bound to God in friendship. Whenever we come together and share our deeper stories, we experience moments of meaningfulness.

 

This Advent time is important for us to come together and share goodwill with one another because there is great suffering in the world and we never know when someone will celebrate Christmas for the last time. This time is filled with parties and gatherings so we can visit with one another, another visitation, because these moments provide us happiness and remind us that we have a community based in charity to help us move through difficult times. Mary and Elizabeth’s difficult time was met with joy because two sisters came together to support one another; it is also our time to reach into the loved ones lives to share time together. When we do so, God touches those moments and makes them special, and God keeps the promise to be with us evermore. 

Scripture for Daily Mass

 

Monday: (Judges 13) A barren woman was visited by an angel to receive the message that she would bear a son. She named him Samson and he spirit of the Lord stirred within him.  

 

Tuesday: (Isaiah 7) This is the sign that you will be given: the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and he shall be named Emmanuel.

 

Wednesday: (Song of Songs 2) My lover come, springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills. My lover is like a young stag. Arise my beautiful one. Come.  

 

Thursday: (1 Samuel 1) Hannah presented her son, Samuel, to the Lord. She left Samuel to grow as a servant of God.     

 

Friday (Malachi 3) I am sending my messenger before me to prepare the way. I will send you Elijah the prophet to turn the hearts of all people back to God.  

 

Saturday (2 Samuel 7) When King David settled into his palace, he was distraught because his Lord had no proper abode for himself. The Lord told David that this house will be David’s.

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (Luke 1) Zechariah, on priestly duty, and his wife, Elizabeth, prayed fervently. An angel visited them to announce that they would bear a son, who was to be named John. 

 

Tuesday: (Luke 1) The angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear a son who would become the savior of the world. He shall be named Emmanuel.

 

Wednesday (Luke 1) Mary set out to the hill country to visit Elizabeth and Zechariah. When she entered the house, Elizabeth recognized that Mary was pregnant with the Lord.

 

Thursday (Luke 1) Mary said, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God, my savior.”   

 

Friday (Luke 1) When the time came to name Elizabeth and John’s son, they wanted to name him after his dad, but Elizabeth said, “No. He will be called John.”

 

Saturday (Luke 1) Zechariah sang, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and set them free.”

 

Saints of the Week

 

December 19 - O root of Jesse's stem, sign of God's love for all the people, before you the kings will be silenced, to you the nations will make their prayers: come to save us without delay!

 

December 20 - O key of David, and scepter of the house of Israel, opening the gates of God's eternal kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness.

 

December 21 - O radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death.

 

December 21: Peter Canisius, S.J., priest and religious (1521-1597), was sent to Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, and Switzerland during the time of the Protestant Reformation to reinvigorate the Catholic faith. He directed many through the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius. He is a doctor of the church for his work in bringing many people back to the faith.

 

December 22 - O King of all nations, and their desire, and keystone of the church: come and save us, whom you formed from the dust.

 

December 23 - O Emmanuel, our king and giver of the Law, the hope of the nations and their Savior: come to save us, Lord our God.

 

December 24: ERO CRAS - In the Roman Catholic tradition, on December 23, the last of the seven “O Antiphons” is sung with the “Alleluia” verse before the Gospel reading at Mass and at Vespers – Evening Prayer in the Divine Office/Breviary. Most ordinary Catholics, however, are more accustomed to hearing these antiphons as verses in the Advent hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

But the literary construction of these wonderful antiphons is arranged in a unique and surprising way: The order of the seven Messianic titles of the “O Antiphons” (and the seven verses of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”) was fixed with a definite purpose. 

In Latin, the initial letters of the antiphons – Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia – form a reverse acrostic – a play on words – ERO CRAS, which translates into English as “Tomorrow, I will be.”

So, in the silence of Christmas Eve, we look back on the previous seven days, and we hear the voice of the One whose coming we have prepared for – Jesus Christ – speak to us: “I will be here tomorrow.”

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• December 19, 1593. At Rome, Fr. Robert Bellarmine was appointed rector of the Roman College. 
• December 20, 1815. A ukase of Alexander I was published banishing the Society of Jesus from St Petersburg and Moscow on the pretext that they were troubling the Russian Church. 
• December 21, 1577. In Rome, Fr. Juan de Polanco, secretary to the Society and very dear to Ignatius, died. 
• December 22, 1649. At Cork, Fr. David Glawey, a missionary in the Inner and Lower Hebrides, Islay, Oronsay, Colonsay, and Arran, died. 
• December 23, 1549. Francis Xavier was appointed provincial of the newly erected Indian Province. 
• December 24, 1587. Fr. Claude Matthe died at Ancona. He was a Frenchman of humble birth, highly esteemed by King Henry III and the Duke of Guise. He foretold that Fr. Acquaviva would be General and hold that office for a long period. 
• December 25, 1545. Isabel Roser pronounced her vows as a Jesuit together with Lucrezia di Brandine and Francisca Cruyllas in the presence of Ignatius at the church of Sta. Maria della Strada in Rome.