Vol. 37 No. 4                            (Cycle C)   4th SUNDAY OF ADVENT Blessed is she who believed   ENTRANCE ANTIPHON Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Saviour. PENITENTIAL RITE As we celebrate this Eucharist, a beautiful combination of love of God and love of neighbour, let us look into our lives and be sorry for the times we have been doubtful of God’s love for us, pessimistic about his plans and also for being egotistic in our Christian life. I confess... OPENING PRAYER Let us pray: Lord, fill our hearts with your love, and as you revealed to us by an angel the coming of your Son as man, so lead us through his suffering and death to the glory of his resurrection, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. FIRST READING (Prophet Micah announces to the inhabitants of Jerusalem that a Ruler will come from Bethlehem who will bring them peace.) A reading from the Book of Micah (5:2-5a) The Lord says this: “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.” This is the Word of the Lord PSALM (79) Response: God of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved. O shepherd of Israel, hear us, shine forth from your cherubim throne. O Lord, rouse up your might, O Lord come to our help. R./ God of hosts, turn again, we implore, look down from heaven and see. Visit this vine and protect it, the vine your right hand has planted. R./ May your hand be on the man you have chosen, the man you have given your strength. And we shall never forsake you again: give us life that we may call upon your name. R./ SECOND READING (The author of Hebrews says that Jesus came, not to offer the sacrifices of the old Law, but to do the will of God. The one perfect sacrifice offered by Christ on Calvary replaces all the former sacrifices.) A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (10:5-10) Brethren, 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 hast 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 it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. This is the Word of the Lord ACCLAMATION (Lk 1:38) Alleluia, alleluia! “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Alleluia! GOSPEL (Today’s Gospel passage describes the meeting between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. This meeting invites us to believe in God and share our joy with others.) A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St 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 fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” This is the Gospel of the Lord I believe in God,/the Father Almighty,/ Creator of heaven and earth./I believe in Jesus Christ,/his only Son, our Lord./He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit/and born of the Virgin Mary./He suffered under Pontius Pilate,/was crucified, died, and was buried./He descended to the dead./On the third day he rose again./He ascended into Heaven,/and is seated at the right hand of the Father./He will come again to judge the living and the dead./I believe in the Holy Spirit,/the Holy Catholic Church,/the communion of saints,/the forgiveness of sins,/the resurrection of the body,/and the life everlasting./Amen. PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL Cel: Dear brothers and sisters, Elizabeth was overjoyed to see Mary visiting her house. Let us ask the Lord to give us the same joy and faith that Mary and Elizabeth shared, and pray for our various needs, saying: Response: Lord, fill us with hope and love. 1. That our Pope, bishops, priests, religious and lay organizations may continue to put their trust in the Lord and be filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, we pray to the Lord. R./ 2. That those who are away from God due to no fault of their own, may receive the divine light to find God in their day-to-day life, we pray to the Lord. R./ 3. That we may find God not only in our practices of piety but also in our needy brothers and sisters who merit our compassion and love, we pray to the Lord. R./ 4. That those who are motivated by their selfish interest and blinded by egoism may receive the gift of broad-mindedness and social concern, we pray to the Lord. R./ 5. That we may realize that the Lord is always close to us, in good times as well as in bad, we pray to the Lord. R./ (Pray for local and personal needs) Cel: Almighty and ever-loving God, hear the prayers of your people. May we be open to receive you during this season through our spiritual observances and concern for the poor and the needy and thus become witnesses of your love and compassion. We ask this... PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS Lord, may the power of the Spirit, which sanctified Mary, the Mother of your Son, make holy the gifts we place upon this altar. We ask this… PREFACE (P 2) Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord. His future coming was proclaimed by all the prophets. The virgin mother bore him in her womb with love beyond all telling. John the Baptist was his herald and made him known when at last he came. In his love Christ has filled us with joy as we prepare to celebrate his birth, so that when he comes he may find us watching in prayer, our hearts filled with wonder and praise. And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven we proclaim your glory and join in their unending hymn of praise: All: Holy, holy, holy... COMMUNION ANTIPHON The Virgin is with child, and shall bear a son, and she will call him Emmanuel. PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION Lord, in this sacrament we receive the promise of salvation; as Christmas draws near make us grow in faith and love to celebrate the coming of Christ our Saviour, who is Lord for ever and ever. LITURGY AND LIFE A man once received the good news of promotion in his job. He called up his wife and asked her to prepare for the evening party. He took out his car and started driving from the company to his residence. On the way he was calling up his friends and inviting them for the evening programme.  Suddenly he saw a small crowd of people on the road. They were requesting him to give them a lift as a young man had met with an accident and was in a pool of blood. But this man had no time for any charitable deed. His eyes and thoughts were fixed on the evening party. When he reached home he received a call from somewhere saying, “Your son has met with an accident. He is in a critical condition. Please come soon.” As he rushed to the hospital he saw the same people who had requested him to give them a lift. He went inside. The doctor looked at him and said, “If you had brought him a little earlier he could have been saved. He is no more.” It was his own son for whom he had no time, thinking that it may be someone else’s child. He lost his only son. The promotion, the job, the entire family life became meaningless for him. The fourth Sunday of Advent is inviting us to trust in God and share our joy with others. Mary trusted in the words of the angel and rushed to share the joy of Elizabeth. The meeting of these two pregnant women inspires us to look at four possible approaches in preparing for the coming of Jesus. a) First Approach - Only Love of God: Such people emphasize the cultic aspect of spirituality. They will meticulously keep Sunday obligation, have regular family prayer, and attend a number of novenas. But they have no time for their neighbours, for their relatives and friends. The priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan had no time for the wounded man. It is an attitude of ‘me and my God’.  This is cultic-spirituality. b) Second Approach - Only Love of Neighbour: Such people have no time for God at all. There is no priority for Sunday Mass and family prayer. They are very comfortable with activities, a little service to their neighbour, visits to their relatives. One begins to say, “I have done all this and that.” Jesus reprimands Martha saying, “You are worried about too many things.” It is an attitude of ‘me and my work’. It is an activity-centred spirituality. c) Third Approach - Neither Love of God nor Love of Neighbour: Such people neither have time for God nor for their neighbour. Their eyes are fixed on the high education of their children, on achieving high standard of business etc. It is done by neglecting religious and social obligations. It is an attitude of ‘me and my family’. It is a self-centred spirituality. The story at the start of this homily is a typical example of this approach. d) Fourth Approach - Both Love of God and Love of Neighbour: Very few people combine these two sides of the same coin called Christian spirituality. They balance the love of God with love of neighbour.  For Jesus, love of one’s neighbour is the translation of love of God. Mary expressed her love for God by accepting God’s plan for her. She translated this love by going to meet her relative Elizabeth and helping the bridegroom at the wedding feast of Cana. As we celebrate this Eucharist, which is a beautiful combination of these two sides of Christian spirituality, let us ask our heavenly Father to fill us with a passion for Christ and compassion for humanity. —Fr Robert B. D’Souza December 2009 READINGS OF THE WEEK Psalter Week 4 21 Mon (V) Song 2:8-14 or Zeph 3:14-18a; Ps 32:2-3,11-12,20-21; Lk 1:39-45 22 Tue (V) 1 Sam 1:24-28; Ps 1 Sam 2:1,4-5,6-7,8abcd; Lk 1:46-56 23 Wed (V) Mal 3:1-4,23-24; Ps 24:4bc-5ab,8-9,10.14; Lk 1:57-66 24 Thu (V) 2 Sam 7:1-5,8b-12,14a,16; Ps 88:2-3,4-5,27.29; Lk 1:67-79 25 Fri (W) CHRISTMAS 26 Sat (R) St Stephen, (Fst.), Acts 6:8-10,7:54-59; Ps 30; Mt 10:17-22