YEAR C: HOMILY FOR THE 4TH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
HOMILY THEME: A MEETING OF JOY
BY: Fr. Benny Tuazon
(Lk. 1:39-45) Fourth Sunday of Advent
HOMILY: In today’s Gospel we again have the Visitation scene of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. It reveals the close relations of Jesus and John. At the same time, we come to realize the superiority of Jesus over John. John leapt in joy upon meeting the Lord. Mother (Mary) and Son (Jesus) showed great humility by visiting Elizabeth.
Further, the Visitation is a meeting of joy and faith. These two seem to have been lost along the way. Well, we seek and welcome joy but not faith. Faith seem to be a private thing to talk and share about. Once Mary greeted her, Elizabeth recognised and praised Mary for her faith. I am sure, mary also complimented her cousins faith.
An important event like Christmas suffers the same fate. We enjoy anticipating Christmas. We exchange gifts, hold Christmas parties, sing songs, visit relatives and Godparents, decorate lavishly, buy new things for ourselves, etc. But do we have a sharing of faith? Do we talk about the great event of the Incarnation? Do we share how Christmases had affected our relationship with God? Do we marvel at love of God and the great sacrifice Jesus had done for us? It seems that we do and talk about everything to make Christmas unforgetable but we elect to forget about sharing our faith.
Mary and Elizabeth’s (also Jesus and John’s) meeting and sharing of faith had a lot to do with the future events particularly John’s and Jesus’ work of salvation. John and Jesus were faithful to their mission even unto death. Certainly they had inherited part if not most of it from their mothers. Mary and Elizabeth shared their faith to their children.
How have we shared our faith to our children? Do we let media, the school, their friends, and others to teach them about faith? If we believe we have the right faith, then we must share them to our children. Yes, they will, in the future, choose their own faith. But meantime, our faith is their faith. When they were baptized we made covenant with God and the Church to rear the child according to the life of Jesus. In other words, we were responsible for their faith. We were expected to share our faith to them.
Our faith is our destiny. It goes beyond this life. Our faith is our life and vice versa. With joy, this Christmas, let us also have an exchange of faith experiences.
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