Commentary on the Gospel for Sunday, December 22, 2024

Blessed are you among women

Dear brothers and sisters, peace and well-being.

Throughout Advent, we’ve been accompanied by significant figures such as the prophet Isaiah, the letters of Paul, St. Joseph, and John the Baptist. Naturally, we couldn’t reach Christmas without contemplating the figure of the Virgin Mary. We first saw her as Immaculate, and now we see her willing to fulfill the Father’s will, as a logical consequence of a “yes” that changed the history of the world, on the eve of Christmas.

Today’s readings speak to us about the value of small things and poverty. Both Micah and the evangelist Luke refer to this. The first reading is written in a time of social, political, and economic hardship. It was difficult to see the light amidst the calamity. That’s why Micah’s words resonate more strongly. From that small clan will come the future king of Israel. Something impossible for man, but not for God. It’s a promise of peace. And lasting peace. Just as back then, the world today is not overflowing with peace. This is our first challenge as 21st-century Christians: to sow peace in our hearts, in our families, and in our communities.

The prophet Micah certainly thought of a king from David’s lineage. A typical king with the limitations of monarchs of his time. But God, as usual, fulfills His promises beyond any human expectation. He lets another 700 years pass, and a woman, Mary, gives birth to the foretold Son of David.

God changes everything. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us of this, speaking about the animal sacrifices that were held in the temple of Jerusalem. Until Christ’s arrival, numerous ritual norms had to be followed. But Jesus renews everything. He doesn’t offer a sacrifice; He offers Himself, fulfilling the words of Psalm 40 (39): “Here I am, Lord, to do your will.” His sacrifice ends the bloody offerings, inaugurating a new era. It’s not our sacrifices or offerings that save us; it’s the unique sacrifice of Christ that has reconciled us with God.

Christ offered Himself to the Father, offering the sacrifice of Himself as a propitiation for our sins. Let’s also offer ourselves to the Father, always obeying His will. And let’s do this by uniting our sacrifice with Christ’s sacrifice. In the final stretch of this year’s Advent, it can be a good prayer to ask the Father to help us seek His will and, very importantly, to fulfill it. As Jesus did, as His Mother, Mary, did.

Mary was also poor and small. The Virgin Mary, who, after being surprised by God, hastens to help her cousin Elizabeth. Without thinking of her smallness and poverty, she responds to the need she perceives. Like at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. It must not have been easy to reach her destination, on unsafe roads and already expecting Jesus. But she did it. We sometimes struggle to pick up the phone to call a relative or friend we haven’t heard from in a long time, or to cross the street to do the shopping for an elderly person. Quite a difference.

Mary does everything by faith. By pure faith. Mary’s faith makes her happy, blessed. Her faith was not intellectual, born from a complete understanding of the angel Gabriel’s words. Mary’s faith was existential, born from love and trust in the God who spoke to her through His messenger. True faith is always like this, the faith that moves mountains and performs miracles. Reason alone does not ignite the believer’s heart because faith without love is cold and detached. The faith that makes us happy is the faith that springs from a believing heart, the faith that relies on those reasons of the heart that reason does not understand, as Pascal told us.

As Mary did, it is good for us to want to leave ourselves, to start walking, to go towards others. Following Mary’s example on this fourth Sunday of Advent, as we are at the threshold of Christmas, it is good to make our lives a path towards our neighbor, offering help and bringing a message of peace. In the end, what will remain of our lives, in God’s eyes, is what we have done for others. Selfishness is a centripetal force that pushes us to always walk towards ourselves, while love is the great centrifugal force that pushes us to walk towards others.

God wants us, like Mary, to always live walking towards others, giving the best of ourselves to others at all times, bringing joy to our brothers. Living Advent as a journey of love towards others is a very Christian way of preparing for Christmas. If John personifies the call to conversion, Mary signifies the attitude of faith. Mary is the woman who welcomes the Word and the woman who enters into God’s intentions. She perceives what God wants for her and carries it out. Always available. Bearer of joy. That’s why she is blessed among women. That’s why she is a model for all of us.