Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent
We have journeyed along this Advent season in joyful expectation for the coming of Christ; now in these last days we are particularly focusing on Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. For those of us who have had many Christmas preparations – shopping for gifts, preparing food, decorating a house, and so on – we find that there are now only a few days left in which to wrap the gifts and plan the holiday meal. That long wait is now abbreviated into just a few days. Christmas is near at hand.
Or, as our responsorial psalm refrain tells us, our redemption is near at hand (cf. Luke 21:28). It is appropriate that we take a rest from the final rush of preparations and sit with these readings, which prepare our hearts for Jesus’ birth. Six months before Jesus was born of Mary, John the Baptist, Jesus’ second cousin, was born of Elizabeth. Even by the day of his circumcision (his naming day), it was clear that John was assigned a special purpose in the plan of God. John was to be the messenger that made Christ known when at last he came, and our first reading from the prophet Malachi also foreshadows John going before Jesus to prepare the way.
So often in our lives, we find ourselves preparing our own way, doing our own bidding, seeking our own goals for our own glory. It is easy for us to be self-focused and to forget the larger picture, which includes faith... and this important figure of Jesus. Jesus, born to us by the Blessed Virgin Mary, comes to bring us our redemption. This wonderful image of redemption referred to those who had been sold into slavery to pay off a debt, and Jesus’ birth heralds the beginning of the slaves being brought back to freedom.
But true redemption for us is submitting ourselves to God’s plan for us, doing God’s will in everything we do. Real freedom is not preparing our own way, following our own selfish plans, and seeking success for our own glory. No the freedom that comes to us in our redemption is the freedom to be like John the Baptist, a messenger who can make Christ known to others through the humility of knowing that our lives are not about us, but about Him.
As Christmas approaches, let us come to the celebration of that great feast with the humble spirit of John the Baptist. We know that our redemption is near and that we have done nothing to earn it. So let us renew our commitment to dedicate our lives to living for that small baby who comes to us in the stable in Bethlehem. Our redemption is near at hand - - we must not squander the opportunity it brings to us!
Maria Morrow