4th Sunday of Advent Year B
The Lord is always faithful to his promises
Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord,
your grace into our hearts,
that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son
was made known by the message of an Angel,
may by his Passion and Cross
be brought to the glory of his Resurrection.
This year, these readings come to us on the very Eve of Christmas. Today we celebrate the secret hidden for all ages, revealed in the birth of the Christ, the son of Mary (Second Reading).
The Gospel retells that wonderful account of the angel coming to Mary with good news. It would be through her that the ‘impossible’ plan of God would unfold. The virgin would conceive and give birth to the Son of God and successor to King David.
Whereas David wanted to build a house (temple) for the Lord (First Reading), the Lord promises to build a House (dynasty) for David. This reading reminds us that our plans are often not God’s plans … and the heart of God’s own plan, demonstrated also in the Psalm, is his faithful love, expressed in his covenant with us.
As we come nearer to celebrating this wonderful birth, let us pray for ever-greater awareness of the presence of the Just One, coming like the dew upon us, so that the earth of our very lives (as we hear in the Entrance Antiphon) might be opened to his unimaginable love.
Let the earth be opened and bring forth a Saviour. Entrance Antiphon
The Lord will make you a House. First Reading
I will keep my love for him always. Responsorial Psalm
The Lord is with you. Gospel
Lord, fill our hearts with your love,
and as you revealed to us by an angel
the coming of your Son as man,
so lead us through his suffering and death
to the glory of his resurrection. Old Opening Prayer
This week’s texts if you want to reflect further 2 Samuel 7: 1–5, 8–12, 14.16; Psalm 88 (89); Romans 16: 25–27; Luke 1: 26–38
