Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta
Homily for the fourth Sunday of Advent: Year C
Readings: Micah 5:1-4; Psalm 79; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-44
CHRISTIAN FAITH IS PIVOTED TO THE IMITATION OF THE SELF-EMPTYING GOD
Dear friends in Christ,
We live in a world where strength is often measured in terms of huge forces, big numbers, power to dominate others etc… Joseph Stalin was once cautioned by Winston Churchill to give weight to the Pope’s opinion in world affairs. The communist leader was at the height of his power. So he sarcastically asked how many divisions the Pope had. Little did he realise that it was not the commander of the Red Army who succeeded in the end. For a few decades afterwards, the unthinkable happened: the mighty Soviet Empire imploded and collapsed thanks in no small part to the moral leadership of the Pope.
Today’s Scripture tells us that God comes among us not brandishing his power and status. Rather he chooses to immerse himself with our vulnerability by living fully our human condition among the most marginalised of society. Against our ingrained prejudice, the God of the covenant has an eye for the outsiders and those who are in any way marginalized by the society. In Jesus, this same God champions the cause of the down and out, the socially insignificant, despised and excluded. Their rights become the object of God’s concern and action in the world. We cannot worship him and honour him without discovering his presence, beauty and power in and through the least and the last of our brothers and sisters.
In the first reading, the prophet Micah speaks of the coming of the new ruler of Israel who will defy the conventional expectations. He will follow neither the pattern of the Jewish elites nor the way of the imperial rulers who use their power and wealth to exploit the poor. Micah denounces them for being preoccupied with their influence and affluence instead of seekingjustice for the poor. Against their arrogance and self-centred ambition, he issues a warning that God would take up the cause of with the weak and the vulnerable.
In fact, Micah is the first prophet to identify the Messiah with Bethlehem, the place of insignificance as opposed to Jerusalem, the capital of wealth and power. This metaphor is both an indictment of the comfortablerich and a vindication of the afflicted poor. In the midst of the wheeling and dealing where everyone looks after his own interests, the prophet comforts the exploited masses and summons the Israelites to their true calling. This summons has become one of the most inspiring passages of the whole Bible. “The Lord requires of youonly this: to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with our God.”
Micah’s prophecy reminds us that when all is said and done, we must be faithful to the God who is not so much worshipped with elaborate ceremonies in Jerusalem as identified with the powerless in Bethlehem; the God who is not so much appeased with sacrifices of the rich as indignant at the injustice done against the poor. The letter to the Hebrews reiterates this fundamental insight. God takes pleasure not in sacrifices but in the doing of his will.
We cannot underestimate this prophetic insight. The whole Judeo-Christian enterprise is pivoted to the imitation of the God who listens to the cry of the poor. Hence a Christianity that does not serve the needy, that does not accompany the excluded, that sidesteps the plight of the marginalised, that gives no hope to the estranged cannot be true to its roots.
The Gospel offers us another perspective into the God of justice, compassion and solidarity. Whereas Micah condemns the movers and shakers in Jerusalem and Samaria for their self-centredness, the Gospel gives us a positive model of living for others. Mary of Nazareth is the antithesis of indifference and apathy. She refuses to settle comfortably in her status. Instead, she lives out her missionary discipleship by accepting inconvenience and risk. She goes out of her security in order to accompany and share the Good News with others. Mary is therefore a model for us Christians individually and collectively in not hiding behind the shield of our security but in going out to the periphery and in being in solidarity with others. She embodies the God who raises up the lowly.
Brothers and sisters,
We are at the threshold of Christmas which is the mystery of God identifying with us in all our human vulnerabilities. The liturgy today invites us to prepare for the feast of God who becomes small and dependent on the little ones of history. Both Mary and Elizabeth represent the best of the “anawim”, that is, the poor faithful remnant through whom God’s plan came to fruition. Their Yes to God and daily pursuit of God’s justice, compassion and goodness against all the odds that made them the heroines of the Gospel.
We are called to follow the footsteps of the “anawim”like Mary and Elizabeth. It is in embracing the trials and tribulations of life rather than in safeguarding our status and privilege. It is in following the pattern of the self-emptying Messiah who chose vulnerability rather than power, poverty rather than prosperity, accompaniment at the coalface rather than privileged seat at the temple. Doing so, may we embody the God who raises up the lowly and heals the broken hearted.Let us commit ourselves to being signs of hope and agents of healing for the kingdom.
