Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent, 2025
Readings:Isaiah 7:10-14; Psalm 24; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-24
21 December 2025
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At the conclusion of mass last Sunday evening, word started to spread about the appalling massacre of Jews celebrating the first night of Hanukkah at Bondi Beach.
At Hannukah, Jews light the menorah of 9 candles – the light driving out the darkness. It’s 50 years since Rabbi Chaim Itche Drizin first displayed a 25 foot menorah in Union Square, San Francisco. The UK’s longtime chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks described the festival of lights which has come to be so publicly celebrated in these terms: ‘Judaism and its culture of hope survived, and the Hanukkah lights are the symbol of that survival, of Judaism’s refusal to jettison its values for the glamour and prestige of a secular culture, then or now. A candle of hope may seem a small thing, but on it the very survival of a civilisation may depend.’
Last Sunday night, the dim lights of the menorah were boosted by those candles of hope who were those individuals, Jews and Gentiles, risking and giving their lives so that others might be saved. One such candle of hope was unarmed Ahmed al-Ahmed who tackled one of the two gunmen. Ahmed’s cousin who was with him later recalled: ‘He was very scared and was saying “I’m gonna die, please stay with me, please tell my family”.’ A recent migrant, Ahmed wanted to do all he could to quell violence and evil and to help fellow Australians under fire.
All week we have witnessed the funerals of the deceased victims. And all week, politicians have been launching or confronting allegations of blame, that not enough has been done to counter anti-Semitism here at home since the horrific Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 and the Israeli state’s obliteration of so much of Gaza with massive loss of life, including innocent non-combatants.
Our prime minister has asked that this Sunday be a day of reflection on all that has occurred at Bondi and in the synagogues this past week with the funerals of those who were mercilessly and callously shot in cold blood.
During our reflection, we pray for all those who died on Bondi Beach as well as those innocent people who have lost their lives in Israel and Gaza. We pray that the lights of the menorah might shine brightly, driving out the darkness and drawing all people of goodwill together into the light.
Looking for answers to intractable questions of justice and peace, we are like Ahaz in today’s first reading from Isaiah. Ahaz and his people are under attack by two enemy kings who have joined forces. ‘His heart and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.’ He is told to ask for a sign: ‘let it be deep as the netherworld, or high as the sky!’ Ahaz says: ‘I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!’
This is the unsolicited promise offered to Ahaz by Isaiah: that ‘the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.’ The promise is that ‘before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.’
We Christians have also received a sign that ‘the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.’ In today’s gospel from Matthew, Joseph knows that he would have had every entitlement to abandon the pregnant Mary. Joseph hears the command in a dream: ‘do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home’. And he does so.
We believe that the child to come at Christmas is all we need to allow us to confront all that life and the world throws up at us. This child allows us to carry our share of the world’s burdens and hurts. On Wednesday our Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney. He said:
Friends, this place is where I learned about the love and compassion of Christ. I commenced school here in Year 5 and for the next eight years I was nurtured here, as a student, as a boy maturing into a young man and as an altar boy in the Guild of St Stephen. I was raised to believe in the duty we owe to the vulnerable – not as a question of charity, but as the measure of our common humanity. When we go in peace today, let us carry the hope of this place in our hearts. For those of us celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ in just over one week, let us live up to his example of love to our neighbours. Let us wrap our arms around the Jewish community.[1]
No matter what our politics and no matter what we think are the strengths or weaknesses of the present government, let’s all give thanks that our prime minister at this time can call us back to the significance and the demands of the coming of the Christ Child. As we reflect on the events of this past week and the countervailing interpretation of causes and remedies, we thank God for Joseph who ‘did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him’.
Let the Lord enter, the king of glory.
Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who shall stand in this holy place?
The person with clean hands and pure heart,
who desires not worthless things.
Let the Lord enter, the king of glory.
That person shall receive a blessing from the Lord,
a reward from God our saviour.
Such are those who seek the Lord,
seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Let the Lord enter, the king of glory.
[1] https://www.pm.gov.au/media/interfaith-memorial
Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO, Adjunct Professor of Thomas More Law School at ACU and Adjunct Research Professor at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, is a former Rector of Newman College, University of Melbourne, and CEO of Catholic Social Services Australia (CSSA). His latest books include Pope Francis: the Disruptive Pilgrims Guide (ATF Theology, 2025), and Gerard Brennan’s Articles and Speeches: Maintaining the Law’s Skeleton of Principle (2 volumes) (Connor Court, 2025).
