Daily Gospel Reflection
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December 24, 2023
The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.
Reflection
On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, we are drawn into the excitement of Christmas Eve already. Perhaps you are putting that final bow on one more gift or preparing a beloved dish in the kitchen to fill tomorrow with delights.
Today’s gospel, however, reminds us to slow down and be patient, as God is patient with us. Almost a millennium before Mary conceived of Jesus in her womb, God promised King David that one of his descendants would be the Son of God. While Solomon did reign and build the first Jewish temple, it was not until God made Mary into a temple that God’s promise to David was fulfilled. Mary is unique among human beings, without sin and able to partner with God in fulfilling all that God has promised.
On this final Advent morning, we, too, are invited, like Mary, to wait patiently, full of hope, expectant that God will fulfill the promise. The promise that those who are pure of heart are the ones who shall see God.
Are you longing to see God in your life anew? Where do you wish an angel would announce “Jesus” in your life? In the book of Revelation, God promises that those behind closed doors, fearful of a gathering storm, yet trusting the Holy Spirit will fill them and make them God’s beloved bride, shall be radiant with glory.
Today, amidst all the preparations, let us take on the patient hope of Mary so that we might have her same faith to say, “Lord, let your will be done in my life.” Let us open ourselves to the life-changing power of God’s Holy Spirit, the most important gift we can ever receive and the sweetest delight we can ever know.
Prayer
Almighty and ever-living God, Mary found favor with you, and you chose her to bear your saving promise. She questioned, “How?” and was told nothing is impossible for the power of the Most High. When we are troubled and question amid our doubts or fears, may your grace abound, stirring the hope that moves us, too, to declare “Thy will be done.” We ask this through Jesus, your Word made flesh, who is Lord forever and ever. Amen.
Saint of the Day
"O happy fault!" announces the ancient text of the Exsultet during the Easter Vigil, "O truly necessary sin of Adam," it cries, "that won for us so great a Redeemer!"
Our liturgies during the Easter season often seem to call to mind the underlying reasons for our salvation more frequently than at Christmas. Christians in the Middle Ages, however, honored Adam and Eve as the parents of humanity and used December 24 to recall the Genesis story that tells of their fall. It was a way to prepare for the Christmas feast of the birth of Jesus, who saved us from death—the consequence of their original sin. Some Christian traditions, such as the Eastern Orthodox, explicitly honor these two figures as saints because they were redeemed by Christ during his harrowing of hell, although they are not on the calendar of saints in the Roman Catholic Church.
Why are Adam and Eve important to us? What do they tell us about what it means to be a human being, made in the image and likeness of God? In his collection of homilies on the Genesis narrative, In the Beginning, Pope Benedict XVI writes:
"The biblical account of creation means to give some orientation in the mysterious region of human-beingness. It means to help us appreciate the human person as God's project and to help us formulate the new and creative answer that God expects from each one of us."
Each of us, like Adam and Eve, are tasked with helping God recreate the world.
Recalling Adam and Eve on December 24 is a natural way to highlight the roles that Jesus and Mary play in our salvation. The Adam and Eve story sets the stage for the saving drama of Jesus’ birth because Adam and Eve remind us of why we need a savior at all.
In the Office of Readings for today, the Liturgy of the Hours features a sermon by St. Augustine that says:
"Truth, then, has arisen from the earth: Christ who said, I am the Truth, was born of a virgin. And justice looked down from heaven: because believing in this new-born child, humanity is justified not by themselves but by God."
The disobedience of Adam and Eve gives us a contrast to the obedience and faithfulness of Jesus and Mary. Adam and Eve are figures who remind us that we are trapped by death; Jesus brings us life, and Mary brings us Jesus.
St. Paul refers to Jesus as the “second Adam” who brings new life to all of humanity, and Mary’s “yes” to the invitation to bear Christ to the world is seen as a saving answer to Eve’s “no” to God when she and Adam sinned in the garden. Our featured image today depicts Adam and Eve's banishment, the promise to Mary, and the birth of Jesus in a stained glass window from the Basilica.
Medieval Christians celebrated December 24 with what was known as a “paradise play.” They would re-enact the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden around an evergreen tree that was decorated with apples to represent the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Some believe this “paradise tree” developed into the Christmas tree, which is often still decorated with round, red balls that resemble apples. The image above shows the Christmas tree beneath the rotunda in the Main Building on Notre Dame's campus.
On Christmas Eve, let us remember our first parents, Adam and Eve, whose fault our Savior comes to mend—come, Lord Jesus!