Fourth Sunday of Advent

O Rex gentium!

Readings of the Day
RB: 65:1-10 The Prior or Prioress of the Monastery
Mass: Is 7:10-14; Resp Ps 24; Rm 1:1-7; Mt 1:18-24

Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

DROP DOWN DEW FROM ABOVE, YOU HEAVENS, AND LET THE CLOUDS RAIN DOWN THE JUST ONE; LET THE EARTH BE OPENED AND BRING FORTH A SAVIOR.

(Entrance Antiphon, Mass)

Welcome to the last Sunday of Advent. Emmanuel "God is with us" comes! We can reflect on words from Meister Eckhart, proclaimed at Morning Prayer: "When the human spirit is ready, God enters without hesitation or waiting. You need not look either here or there. God is no farther away than the door of the heart." And we return to the Holy Father's question from last week's General Audience: "How am I preparing to celebrate the birth of the Lord?" Or we could ask, "How am I preparing my heart to celebrate the birth of the Lord?"

One way is reflect on today's Gospel and look again to dear Joseph for guidance. Pope Francis said this about Joseph at the Angelus Address: "He does not preach, he does not speak, but he tries to do God's will; and he accomplishes that will in an evangelical style, and in the meek and humble style of the beatitudes." We might, then, look at the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12. Is there one beatitude in particular that I can better embrace so as to help prepare my heart to celebrate the birth of the Lord?

As we continue our count down to the celebration of the birth of Jesus, we pray with the penultimate of the seven great "O" antiphons: O King of the nations and their Desire, the Cornerstone who binds two into one: come and save mankind, whom you fashioned from clay ("O" Antiphon, December 22).
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior"!

For she who conceived God by faith promises you the same if you have faith; if you will faithfully receive the Word from the mouth of the heavenly messenger you too may conceive the God whom the whole world cannot contain.

(Guerric of Igny)

Let us not forget to pray for the many people who find this time of the year difficult due to grief, illness, loneliness, anxiety, abuse, or neglect. We pray too for the dying, especially those who will die alone.

© Gertrude Feick 2019