Forth Sunday of Advent – 24th December 2023
Just listening to the readings, we know that we are very close to the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus. The first reading is so very beautiful and one that all of us should know and keep in our hearts.
So often we are like David: we want to do something for God and we have not really understood all that He has done and is doing for us. The image of God in this reading is so sweet and tender and powerful!
David is now established as king in Israel and his thoughts turn to God. He realises that he has built all his own physical houses and built up the city but he has not yet built a place that is truly adequate and worthy of the Lord’s presence. Nathan the Prophet, almost without thinking, tells him to go ahead and build a house for the Lord. But that very night the Lord appears to Nathan the Prophet and tells him that David should not build a house for the Lord.
God has Nathan speak to David and tell him: You can’t build me a house! I have built you a house!
This is a play on words and we must recognise it, because the house that God builds for David and which is so important is the house of his descendants: your house and your kingdom shall endure forever!
So, we see today another prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. Our first instinct, as was David’s first instinct, is to think that the physical descendants of King David will endure forever. But like all prophecies, the words can be interpreted in more than one way. David’s house endures forever because Jesus Christ is God.
This leads us to today’s Gospel. We have the story of the annunciation. Mary hears the words of the Angel Gabriel and accepts them, but also asks how it could be possible. The high point of the Gospel, of course, is Mary’s reply: “I am the handmaid of the Lord; let what you have said be done to me.”
We see the contrast with David the King! David wants to do something for God – and that is a worthy desire. Mary simply wants to do God’s will. And that is something infinitely more worthy.
As we come to the end of Advent, we can ask for this same grace that Mary had: May it be done according to your word! May my life reflect only God. May my desires be purified so that I can become a person who truly reflects God in every aspect of my life. May Christ be born in me. Amen!