Homily 522 | 4th Sunday of Advent | Year C
Throughout Advent, the church has given us several great figures to help prepare for the coming celebration of the Lord’s nativity. The first is the great prophet Isaiah, who stands in for all the other prophets who together foretell the coming of the Messiah. Then, there’s John the Baptist, the greatest and last of the prophets who announces the arrival of the Messiah. Finally, on this last Sunday of Advent, we contemplate the one most prepared for the coming of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In today’s homily, I consider the relationship between Eve from the book of Genesis and Mary’s encounter with the angel Gabriel. Then, in light of today’s gospel I look at the hidden connection between Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth and a similar moment when the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem. Elizabeth was the first to call Mary the Mother of God. She writes half of the famous Hail Mary prayer we pray every day. Finally, she tells Mary, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
When the angel Gabriel left Mary, she had no evidence that what he said was true. She couldn’t know for sure that she was pregnant and she couldn’t know that Elizabeth was pregnant. But, unlike the first Eve, Mary, the new Eve, trusted that all this was true and went in haste to Elizabeth where everything was confirmed. May we follow the example of Mary in her humility and charitable haste in going to those in need. May we especially place our trust in the Sacred Scriptures. We are also those who believe in the promises of God. He is faithful. His words have been proven true. Blessed are we who believe.