Easter Season Homily

Homily – Fourth Sunday of Advent Year C

Advent enters its final week with a reading from Luke on the Visitation, when Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth. The scene captures both women expecting a child of their own as foretold by the angel of the Lord in the two “annunciations”, one to Mary and the other to Elizabeth’s husband, Zechariah. When two pregnant women come together there is much to share and exchange. For these two women, it was the exchange and sharing of their faith.

In sharing their faith, each responded with joy. Joy started to spread from the elderly to the unborn. When it comes to joy, age is definitely not a discriminating factor. For Elizabeth, it was conceiving a child much later in life. Overwhelmed, one can easily forget that a woman like Elizabeth would have experienced the anguish and stigma living in such a time. For the ageless John, he leapt for joy at hearing the voice of Mary. How about that for an expression of joy?

For Mary, her joy was recognised by Elizabeth. In the words of her cousin “Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made to her by the Lord would be fulfilled” Mary’s joy resides in her faith. Her faith is evident in how she responded to the Word of God. Mary demonstrated her faith by an openness to the Word and letting it take root deep in the heart. The Word of God became her own in the canticle, the Magnificat.

As the day of the Lord’s coming draws near, may the words and phrases that we will hear have a place in each one of us.

By Fr Hoang Dinh

 

 

Published: 20 December 2024

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Acknowledgement of Country
    We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia and acknowledge their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the Elders past and present.
    Safeguarding
    At Our Lady of Pentecost Parish we hold the care, safety and well being of children and young people as a central and fundamental responsibility of our parishes.
    Find out more
    Get in touch

    19 Brenbeal Street, Balwyn VIC 3103
    Telephone: 03 9816 9291
    Email: [email protected]

    Office Hours:
    Tue - Fri 9:00am – 5:00pm

    Our Newsletter
    Sign up to receive the parish newsletter and other communication from the parishes in your inbox each week.
    Created with Heartburst
    © 2024 Our Lady of Pentecost Parish. All rights reserved.