FIRST READING: Michah 5: 1-4. Thus says the Lord: You, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in travail has brought forth; then the rest of his brethren shall return to the people of Israel. 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 dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And this shall be peace. EXPLANATION: Michah prophesied in Judah during the second half of the 8th century B.C. His preaching was especially against the rich exploiters of the poor who will be punished by God. But a remnant---the few faithful ones, will be saved and God's kingdom will be established. Most of the prophets have references to the coming Messiah, but this prophecy of Michah is one of the clearest in the Old Testament. He names Bethlehem as the birth-place of the Messiah, who will be shepherd and king of not only Israel but of all peoples and his kingdom will be a kingdom of peace.Bethlehem-Ephrathah: Ephrathah was a family of the tribe of Judah which settled in that locality. They called the town Ephrathah at first but the name was later changed to Bethlehem (see Jos. 15: 59), which means "house of bread."
are little . . . clans of Judah: Ephrathah was a small, almost unknown clan of the tribe of Judah but it had already become famous, for from it David the greatest of Israel's kings had sprung. But a greater than David would yet make Bethlehem more famous still---he would be a ruler (for God) whose greatness would "reach to the ends of the earth."
origin is from old: This refers literally back to Bethlehem and David but typically to the future ruler whose divine sonship was from eternity.
Therefore he shall . . . give them up: Because of the evil doings of kings and people in Israel, they will be subject to foreigners until
she . . . brought forth: The future king of Israel would be born of a woman. The words "she who is to give birth" imply that the prophecy of Isaiah (7: 14) given some years earlier, was known and remembered.
rest of his brethren: The gathering of all the clans from north and south, from east and west under the new Ruler is frequently mentioned by Deutero-Isaiah and also by Jeremiah, Ezechiel and others.
and feed his flock: He shall protect and pasture his flock, his people, he will be the Good Shepherd (Jn. 10: 1-16).
strength of the Lord: He will be the perfect ruler, the perfect shepherd because he has God with him.
they shall dwell: His people will never be scattered again unlike the Chosen People of old---his kingdom will last forever.
ends of the earth: It will be a universal kingdom.
this shall be peace: His kingdom founded on the two commandments of love will be a kingdom of peace for it is based on true love of God and neighbor. APPLICATION: The ways of God are certainly not our ways and the mercy of God surpasses all human understanding. When he sent Michah to recall his rebellious, thankless people, and told him to foretell the national and personal disasters their sins were about to bring on them, he gave at the same time a glimpse of the glorious future that awaited them. They took note of the promise and their descendants remembered their promise, for the priests of Jerusalem were able to tell Herod where Christ the Messiah was to be born (see Mt. 2:4), yet the certainty of a glorious future was not enough to turn them from their sinful way of living. Notwithstanding this, the merciful God still kept his promise. The Messiah, the Redeemer, was born later in Bethlehem and he founded a universal kingdom for Jew and Gentile promising an eternal kingdom to those who would be faithful members of his earthly one. We have called the Jews unworthy and thankless but who are we to offer to take the mote out of their eyes? The Jews had indeed seen the wondrous love and mercy of God, but have we Christians not experienced that love and mercy to an infinitely greater degree? God sent his Son to live and die for us and yet how cold is our love, how meagre and begrudging is our thanksgiving, our return for this infinite divine love? Like the Jews of Michah's time we are aware that God has promised us the kingdom of heaven where we shall have eternal happiness and peace. Yet, how many of us are willing to bear the trials of this life and shun illicit gains and pleasures for the sake of that happy eternal future? The ways of God are mysterious but surely the ways of sinful man who is willing to throw away his everlasting happiness for the sake of a passing pleasure, are more mysterious still.
SECOND READING: Hebrews 10: 5-10. When Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God,' as it is written of me in the roll of the book." When he said above, "Thou has neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), then he added, "Lo, I have come to do thy will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. EXPLANATION: The Epistle to the Hebrews was written by some disciple of St. Paul who wrote under the influence of the preaching and writings of the great Apostle of the Gentiles. The letter was written to Jewish converts as the title (given to it in the 2nd century) and especially the contents clearly indicate. The author's purpose is to confirm the converts in their recently accepted Christian faith and to do this he proves from the Old Testament that Christ was the promised Messiah, that all the rites and ceremonies of the old law were but shadows and types of the future, true liturgy. In the verses you have heard read, the author says that the sacrifice offered by Christ (on Calvary) annulled and replaced all the sacrifices of the Temple of Jerusalem. The perfect obedience given by Christ to God, which culminated on Calvary. replaces the religion of the Old Testament and is the one and only means now for men's sanctification.
into the world: The author puts in Christ's mouth, at the moment of his incarnation, the words of Psalm 40: 7-9.
sacrifices and offerings: The offering of sheep and bulls and all the other various sacrifices which God commanded the Israelites to offer had no value of themselves unless the heart and the will of the one offering was given to God.
a body . . . prepared for me: The Hebrew text of the psalm has "you have opened my ear" that is, you, God, have let me hear and obey your will. The Epistle follows the Greek translation "a body you have fitted to me" as more directly messianic. The Son of God was made man, took human nature, in order to sacrifice his human life to God, for our sins.
I have come to do thy will: The Incarnation was freely accepted by the Son in order to carry out God's will regarding man's salvation. Christ came on earth to obey the Father's will in every detail, "even to the death on the cross" and in this he represented all mankind and won back for us the friendship of God.
in . . . the book: The coming of a Redeemer was foretold in the very first chapters of the Old Testament and repeated many times. This very coming was the raison d'être of the Old Law and of the Chosen People.
to do thy will: Perfect obedience to the will of his Father was the driving force in the human life of Christ, and through this perfect obedience he reconciled sinful humanity with God.
he abolishes . . . the second: All the sacrifices and liturgy of the Old Law were but a weak shadow of the one and only really pleasing sacrifice of Christ. These Jewish sacrifices together with the covenant God made with Moses on Mount Sinai were annulled (no longer had any real value) since the real sacrifice was offered on Mount Calvary. The shadow gave way to the reality.
establish the second: Christ made a new Covenant not only with Israel but with all mankind and this Covenant is for all time. "This is my blood of the new and everlasting covenant."
By that will . . . sanctified: We have been brought back to the friendship of God by Christ's sacrifice which unlike the Jewish sacrifices need not be repeated. Christ offered himself once and this has value for all times and for all men. APPLICATION: These words of the Epistle to the Hebrews are aptly chosen to remind us today, the last Sunday of our preparation for Christmas, of the real meaning of the Incarnation. It was out of love, infinite love, God created the world and all it contains. In God's plan of creation man was the highest of all the creatures, he has inorganic and organic life, vegetative and animal life, but over and above what all other living creatures have he has an intellect and free will---a spiritual life which makes him capable of knowing and loving his Creator. From the beginning, according to the teaching of the Scotistic School, God's plan was to raise up man to the highest possible glory, by uniting our human nature with the divine in the Person of his divine Son, and thus in the Incarnation all creation is, in its representative man, joined to its divine Creator. Our finite, puny minds cannot even begin to understand the infinite love which moved God to be so generous towards us. And to make that love more mysterious still the world was full of sin when the Incarnation took place. Man who could and should have known and loved his Creator, had in his pride and selfishness forgotten his Benefactor and offended him. But that did not deter God's love. It entailed suffering and a cruel death for the Son in his human nature, but that was cheerfully borne out of love for us. "Behold I come to do thy will" was the Son's response, he humbled himself so that we should be raised up, he died so that we should live eternally. His perfect obedience, coming from the God-man, made atonement for all the sins (of disobedience) the whole human race had ever committed or ever could commit. All we can say to this mystery of infinite love is: thank you God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for all you have done and are still doing for us, unworthy, utterly unworthy though we be.
GOSPEL: Luke 1: 39-45. Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. EXPLANATION: St. Luke has just described the Annunciation of the birth of Christ. When Mary wondered how she could be the Mother of the Messiah as she was a virgin and evidently intended to remain a virgin, Gabriel told her: "the power of the Most High" would do this. And to confirm this statement he told her that her cousin Elizabeth who had been barren and was now advanced in years (Lk. 1: 5-7) had conceived and was in her sixth month. Mary believed his word and humbly accepted the role God had destined for her. She immediately set out to visit her cousin, today's Gospel reading describes this visit.
in haste into the hill country: The home of Zechariah and Elizabeth, according to an ancient tradition, was in the hills south-west of Jerusalem---a place today called Ain Karem. From Nazareth to Ain Karem was a journey of 50 or so miles---a dangerous journey in those days but this did not worry the young maiden whose one desire was to congratulate her cousin and be of help to her.
the babe leaped in her womb: Elizabeth knew that the Messiah's arrival was imminent. She herself was miraculously pregnant---even though Zechariah was dumb as a punishment for doubting the Angel's word, he was able to write and she or somebody else would have read his message. She knew therefore the son she was expecting was to be the Precursor of the Messiah, and therefore the Messiah himself must be about to arrive. When Mary greeted her, most probably with words of congratulation on her happy election to be mother of the Precursor, the Holy Spirit revealed to her and to the unborn infant in her womb that her visitor and cousin was to be the Messiah's Mother. The following words are proof of this.
exclaimed . . . loud cry: Elizabeth burst forth in praise of Mary's exalted position in God's plan of redemption.
Blessed are you among women: Of all women on earth you are the nearest and dearest to God.
blessed is the fruit of your womb: Elizabeth knows Mary has conceived and whom she has conceived.
Mother of my Lord: In her humility, though she herself has been blessed by God, she feels embarrassed that the Mother of the Messiah should deign to visit her.
behold . . . leaped for joy: She tells Mary that even the unborn babe had recognized Mary as one exalted by God and joyfully welcomed her and the Messiah she bore. APPLICATION: Filled with the Holy Spirit, that is, informed, inspired by God, Elizabeth was the first human being to proclaim the dignity, the special position given to Mary in God's plan for our redemption. "Blessed are thou amongst women . . . the mother of my Lord," she said. Mary was the one chosen from all eternity, from all the daughters of Eve, to be the mother of the Incarnate Son of God---no greater dignity could be conferred on any creature on earth or in heaven, she was surely the "blessed one." The moment she accepted the Angel's announcement in Nazareth and said "be it done unto me according to thy word" she became the Mother of Christ, our Redeemer. And at that same moment she became our Mother also, for Christ has made us his brothers. Fortunate and blest indeed are we to have such a Mother in heaven who loves us and is supremely interested in us. There is no stronger, no greater, no more unselfish love on earth than that of a mother for her child. Expecting nothing in return, an earthly mother will make any sacrifice even that of her own life, for the sake of her child. Mary, our Mother in heaven, has made a sacrifice for us---a sacrifice greater than any human mother could ever make---she offered her divine Son for us on Calvary and stood there to see him die slowly in agony for our sakes. Could we ever doubt her love for us then, her supreme interest in us? She wants nothing for us but the greatest and the best, our eternal happiness with the Holy Trinity in heaven. Every human mother does all she can to help her child succeed in life. Our heavenly mother does all she can (and she surely has influence with her divine Son), to help us succeed in our heavenly vocation. But we must do our part. Unfortunately many a son and daughter forget the sacrifices their earthly mothers made for them in their childhood and youth and leave them unhelped, uncomforted and lonely in their advancing years. God forbid that we should forget our earthly mothers and all they did for us and our temporal welfare, and God forbid we should ever cease to be thankful and grateful to our heavenly Mother who did so much more and who is still doing so much for our eternal well-being. Let us thank God from our hearts at Christmas for sending his divine Son to redeem us, and for giving his Son and us a Mother "blessed amongst women" and greatest of all mothers.-c017 Click to return to our Home page
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