Belated Sunday Sermon - 12.22.24
LATIN MASS: FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
EPISTLE: 1 Corinthians 4:1 Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God. 2 Here now it is required among the dispensers, that a man be found faithful. 3 But to me it is a very small thing to be judged by you, or by man's day; but neither do I judge my own self. 4 For I am not conscious to myself of any thing, yet am I not hereby justified; but He that judgeth me, is the Lord. 5 Therefore judge not before the time; until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall every man have praise from God.
Ministers here is hupéretés, which means a servant or officer. It is used mostly in the New Testament as officer. It carries with it the implicit meaning of having authority from Christ. The word for mysteries here is mustérion. It is used many times in the New Testament and it carries the meaning of religious rites and ceremonies. The Latin translation of this word is sacrament. What St. Paul is talking about here is the priests of God who safeguard and dispense the sacrements.
GOSPEL: Luke 3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Iturea, and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilina; 2 Under the high priests Annas and Caiphas; the word of the Lord was made unto John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. 3 And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins; 4 As it was written in the book of the sayings of Isaias the prophet: A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight His paths. 5 Every valley shall be filled; and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight; and the rough ways plain; 6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Notice how the Gospel writer is so specific about so many details. He wants the reader to know, without a doubt, that what he is writing is NOT like the pagan mythologies of Rome and Greece. The stories of those gods were set in unspecified ages before in unspecified places. Luke instead wants to be absolutely clear that Jesus existed and lived in THIS specific time and THIS specific place. He is not mythology, but the real and true God-man. The Word became Flesh dwelt among us, and did so in a concrete time and place.
He then tells us about John the Baptist, and how he prepared Israel to receive the Messiah. It is not an accident or coincidence that four of the Apostles were disciples of John the Baptist. They were prepared for the Messiah’s arrival, and were ready when Our Lord called them. That is why they immediately left their lives and homes to follow Him. We have to prepare ourselves to be ready to answer His call.
NOVUS ORDO: FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
OLD TESTAMENT: Micah 5:1 Now you are walled around with a wall; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the ruler of Israel upon the cheek. 2 But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for Me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. 3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel. 4 And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the Name of the Lord his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth;
All through the books of the Old Testament, the overarching story is pointing towards the Messiah. Many prophecies were proclaimed so that Israel would be ready to receive. Even with all these prophecies from God, many people in Israel completely missed the Messiah, even when He was right in front of them. None are so blind as those who refuse to believe. Miracles were being performed right before their very eyes, yet they had no hope and no faith, so they did not see Him.
NEW TESTAMENT: Hebrews 10:5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a Body you have prepared for Me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’ (in the scroll of the book it is written of Me).”
8 When He said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the Law), 9 then He added, “See, I have come to do Your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. 10 And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Our Lord does not call upon anyone else to fulfill the Law and to transform the Old Covenant. He Himself embraced the Cross and offered Himself and His Body up as the sacrifice of the New and Eternal Covenant. We do His will when we obey Our Lord and receive Him reverently.
GOSPEL: Luke 1:39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
The voice of Mary is the channel that the Holy Spirit uses to bestow His grace upon both Elizabeth and John the Baptist. The mother of God comes to visit and brings with her God’s grace that flows through her. Her soul magnifies the Lord.