Fourth Sunday of Advent

Cycle C

Homily on December 22, 2024.

Miq 5, 1-4a. Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19. Heb 10:5-10. Lk 1:39-45

The Love of God in the small

Greetings in Christ, the missionary of the Father. Here we are again to share a short homily for this fourth Sunday of Advent. Today we have heard three readings and the psalm with many things in common. First of all we heard in the first reading, the promise that God makes to a land that the whole world at that time had as very little, however in God's plans it was not small or insignificant. In the second reading we hear of the new priestly sacrifice that Jesus has set up. It is no longer that sacrifice of the Levites or the teachers of the law where an animal was necessary for the sacrifice. Jesus shows that the true meaning of it is to fulfil the will of God and he himself has shown it. And finally in the gospel we hear the story of the encounter between Mary and her cousin, leaving us with the scene of joy that exists between them when they have this encounter where they recognize the savior.

Reading and meditating on these readings I think that many times in our lives we go through problems, uncertainties and insecurities that often provoke the distance towards God's love for us and therefore do not let us see the plan that God may have for us. Not infrequently we think that our smallness limits us to get closer to him, to his love and to be part of his project. However, today's readings tell us the opposite, the place that everyone thought of as insignificant has become important and has always been named, because that is where our Lord Jesus was born. The land did not determine the value in the eyes of God. 

Later, as we see in the letter to the Hebrews, the teachers of the law or those who thought they had the knowledge of the law were humbled to know that God's salvific plan did not consist of large animals sacrificed in the temple or large contributions of gold or silver. The sacrifice that was most pleasing to God and still is, is to do His will, to trust fully in His will as Jesus shows. That the necessary and greatest sacrifice is not the one of monetary or material value, but the one that renounces selfishness and allows himself or herself to follow God's will. 

And finally the joy of the unborn, in a world that only wants to reduce value to what you can spend or give. The joy in the womb of St. Elizabeth shows that no one is too small not to recognize Jesus. The Gospel shows that to feel the joy of Jesus does not require great possessions or being in privileged places. God's presence in our lives always comes, the only thing that perhaps God asks of us is to have that gesture of faith that Elizabeth had in recognizing that God's presence has come to her home.

I am in Kenya working and serving in Kibera. And I personally realize that despite the many precarious situations that may be experienced in places like these, God does not hold them as lesser, their place in God's heart is not determined by their position in society. Here I have seen that faith, like that of Elizabeth when she met the Lord and her mother, is also transformed into joy. But it is not a joy that is vain, it is a joy based on faith, on the encounter with Jesus and on the confidence of being able to do his will. 

So my dear friends I want to end with this; let us not be afraid to follow Jesus and to offer our lives in sacrifice to do his will. Let us not think that our small or big places of origin determine our value for God. And more importantly let us not think that our smallness does not contribute to God's project, no one is too small not to give and no one is too big not to receive. Let our trust in God be greater so that we do not forget the great love that God has for the little ones, and that this love invites us to have faith. And finally to work for the project of his kingdom.