The Lord is with You
Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR
Homily of the 4th Sunday of Advent, Year B
St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Savannah, Tennessee
21st December, 2008
Homily of the 4th Sunday of Advent, Year B
St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Savannah, Tennessee
21st December, 2008
Brethren, Christmas is almost here! All shopping malls are crowded by people trying to make a last minute shopping. The streets are all decorated with fanciful Christmas flowers and trees, and Christmas lights. Many homes are looking very beautiful and smelling good and better. Christmas songs and carols are being sung on radio and TV. People are happy; children are getting excited. People are having Christmas party and having rare fun. The whole environment is seriously charged. Even atheists know that something is happening. They know that this period is quite different from others. Although they may not be happy about it, but there is nothing they can do about it. Christmas is a season of the beloved. No wonder they try to undermine the season by introducing “Happy Holiday” instead of “Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas”. Christmas is the most pleasant of all the seasons. But let’s not forget we are still in the season of Advent.
In today’s Gospel, we are presented with the dialogue between angel Gabriel and Mary. In the dialogue, the angel announced to Mary that she will bear a child, the Son of the Most High God. The angel’s first word to Mary was “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you”. The Lord’s constant presence is a promise he has always promised to any man or woman he has called into his service.
To Isaac in Genesis 28: 15 God said: “Be sure that I am with you; I will keep you safe wherever you go, and bring you back to this land, for I will not desert you until I have done what I promised you.”
To Jacob God said “Go back to the land of your forefathers and to your kindred; and I will be with you.”
To Joshua, God said, “As long as you live, no one shall be able to stand in your way; I will be with you as I was with Moses; I will not leave you or desert you.”
To Gideon the Lord said, “I will be with you and you shall crush Midian as though it were a single man.”
To Solomon God said, “I will be with you and will build you as enduring a house as the one I built for David. I will give Israel to you.”
When Moses told God that he was not going to be the person to free the Israelites from Egypt, the Lord made a simple but huge promise, “I will be with you.” When the Israelites began their long trek to freedom, God again reassured them “I am with you.” The Israelites had the Ark of the Covenant, the Covenant God made with them, which reminded them that God was with them in every step of the way. When they entered the Promised Land and had to fight other tribes for the possession of the land, God again said to them: “I will be with you.” To all those he called- David, Jeremiah, Jonah, Daniel and so many others, God assured “Don’t be afraid, I will be with you.”
In today’s Gospel, God through angel Gabriel assured Mary of his presence: “The Lord is with you.” His forever presence is God’s greatest gift to us. We need him to stay and survive on earth.
Dearest beloved, God is with us always! The joy of Christmas is that God is coming to be with his people. The prophesy of Isaiah says, “…the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall be called Immanuel, a name which means: God-is-with-us.” When Jesus came, he promised us saying, “I will be with you until the end of time.” Brethren what is at stake now is not whether God is with us. What is doubtful right now is not whether God is here with us. What is worrying now is not whether God-is-with-us. What is at stake and doubtful is where we are. The crucial question is not whether God actually is with us, for he is always with us. The crucial issue is where we are presently.
Let’s do a summary of the Gospel readings we have had for the three Sundays of Advent: On the first Sunday of Advent, Jesus warns us to “Be watchful, be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” On that day, the Lord cautions us not to be carried away by anything, but to stay awake!
On the Second Sunday of Advent, the desert preacher appeared urging us to repent and receive forgiveness of sins.
On the Third Sunday of Advent, the desert preacher defined himself as “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert: make straight the way of the Lord.” On this Sunday, John the Baptist urged us to “make straight the way of the Lord” to prepare our hearts to receive the One he says “whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
Today, being the fourth Sunday of Advent, Mary who humbly accepted to cooperate with the Lord in the task of salvation was promised “The Lord is with you.” The Lord is not only with Mary; he is also with us. Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant; we are the New Israel God entered into covenant with. His ever presence with us is not in doubt. We know God is with us, but the all important question remains: Are we, am I, are you with God? Living a sinful life is a concrete way of not being with God. Are we ready, awake and repented to receive the God that is coming to be with us?
In today’s Gospel, we are presented with the dialogue between angel Gabriel and Mary. In the dialogue, the angel announced to Mary that she will bear a child, the Son of the Most High God. The angel’s first word to Mary was “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you”. The Lord’s constant presence is a promise he has always promised to any man or woman he has called into his service.
To Isaac in Genesis 28: 15 God said: “Be sure that I am with you; I will keep you safe wherever you go, and bring you back to this land, for I will not desert you until I have done what I promised you.”
To Jacob God said “Go back to the land of your forefathers and to your kindred; and I will be with you.”
To Joshua, God said, “As long as you live, no one shall be able to stand in your way; I will be with you as I was with Moses; I will not leave you or desert you.”
To Gideon the Lord said, “I will be with you and you shall crush Midian as though it were a single man.”
To Solomon God said, “I will be with you and will build you as enduring a house as the one I built for David. I will give Israel to you.”
When Moses told God that he was not going to be the person to free the Israelites from Egypt, the Lord made a simple but huge promise, “I will be with you.” When the Israelites began their long trek to freedom, God again reassured them “I am with you.” The Israelites had the Ark of the Covenant, the Covenant God made with them, which reminded them that God was with them in every step of the way. When they entered the Promised Land and had to fight other tribes for the possession of the land, God again said to them: “I will be with you.” To all those he called- David, Jeremiah, Jonah, Daniel and so many others, God assured “Don’t be afraid, I will be with you.”
In today’s Gospel, God through angel Gabriel assured Mary of his presence: “The Lord is with you.” His forever presence is God’s greatest gift to us. We need him to stay and survive on earth.
Dearest beloved, God is with us always! The joy of Christmas is that God is coming to be with his people. The prophesy of Isaiah says, “…the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall be called Immanuel, a name which means: God-is-with-us.” When Jesus came, he promised us saying, “I will be with you until the end of time.” Brethren what is at stake now is not whether God is with us. What is doubtful right now is not whether God is here with us. What is worrying now is not whether God-is-with-us. What is at stake and doubtful is where we are. The crucial question is not whether God actually is with us, for he is always with us. The crucial issue is where we are presently.
Let’s do a summary of the Gospel readings we have had for the three Sundays of Advent: On the first Sunday of Advent, Jesus warns us to “Be watchful, be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” On that day, the Lord cautions us not to be carried away by anything, but to stay awake!
On the Second Sunday of Advent, the desert preacher appeared urging us to repent and receive forgiveness of sins.
On the Third Sunday of Advent, the desert preacher defined himself as “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert: make straight the way of the Lord.” On this Sunday, John the Baptist urged us to “make straight the way of the Lord” to prepare our hearts to receive the One he says “whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
Today, being the fourth Sunday of Advent, Mary who humbly accepted to cooperate with the Lord in the task of salvation was promised “The Lord is with you.” The Lord is not only with Mary; he is also with us. Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant; we are the New Israel God entered into covenant with. His ever presence with us is not in doubt. We know God is with us, but the all important question remains: Are we, am I, are you with God? Living a sinful life is a concrete way of not being with God. Are we ready, awake and repented to receive the God that is coming to be with us?
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