Fourth Sunday of Advent (December 22)
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Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 22, 2024Gospel: Luke 1: 39-45
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said,
"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."
Source: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122224.cfm
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Visual Arts
The Visitation, Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1909-1910
Henry Ossawa Tanner's realist depiction of the Visitation invites us around Elizabeth's table at her house, at the moment when Mary arrives and greets her.
The meeting between Mary and Elizabeth teaches us about the holy. Tanner shows that we encounter the holy in the everyday moments of our lives - an arrival, a homecoming, a table set for a meal. Elizabeth's expression reminds us that while we find holiness in this world, it is not of this world, that finding holiness is a glimpse of God's magnificent otherness that beckons us to draw close, but also fills us with wonder and awe.
Click on the video to learn more about the painting!
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Music
Gabriel's MessageVoces8
Lyrics
The angel Gabriel from heaven cameHis wings as drifted snowHis eyes as flame"All hail" said he "thou lowly maiden MaryMost highly favored lady, " Gloria, Gloria
"For known a blessed mother thou shalt beAll generations laud and honor theeThy Son shall be EmanuelBy seers foretoldMost highly favored maid, " Gloria, Gloria
Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head "To me be as it pleaseth God, " she said,"My soul shall laud and magnify His holy name."
Most highly favored lady, Gloria, Gloria
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Poetry
The Visitation
Malcolm Guite
Here is a meeting made of hidden joys
Of lightenings cloistered in a narrow place
From quiet hearts the sudden flame of praise
And in the womb the quickening kick of grace.
Two women on the very edge of things
Unnoticed and unknown to men of power
But in their flesh the hidden Spirit sings
And in their lives the buds of blessing flower.
And Mary stands with all we call 'too young',
Elizabeth with all called 'past their prime'
They sing today for all the great unsung
Women who turned eternity to time
Favored of heaven, outcast on the earth
Prophets who bring the best in us to birth.
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Reflection
How has this Advent season been for you? Do you feel prepared for Christ's coming at Christmas? How could you still prepare in these last few days of the season?
Elizabeth recognizes something holy in what she could have experienced as ordinary fetal movement. Where have you found God in the everyday experiences of your life?
- How could you cultivate greater awareness of God's promised presence in the midst of your ordinary realitiies?
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O God, grant that we may desire you, and desiring you, seek you, and seeking you, find you, and finding you, be satisfied forever.
Francis Xavier, 1506-1552
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