4TH SUNDAY OF ADVENT YEAR B

Readings: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14c-16 Psalm 89:2-5, 26, 28 Romans 16:25-27 Luke 1:26-38 The Theme of this Sunday's Readings: The Mystery Revealed Today, our readings remind us that we are on the verge of celebrating the coming of God enfleshed to live as a man among the human children of the Divine Father. The Catechism tells us: "The coming of God's Son to earth is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge on Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures and symbols of the 'First Covenant.' He announces him through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming" (CCC 522). In this Sunday's Gospel reading, what the angel Gabriel announced to Mary of Nazareth was the revelation promised by the prophets and the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant (First Reading and Psalm). It is what St. Paul refers to in the Second Reading as "the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages" that is now "made known to all nations" (Rom 16:25, 26). The First Reading reveals God's eternal covenant with King David and his descendants. When David settled in Jerusalem, he did not consider it fitting that he should live comfortably in his "house" while the Ark of the Covenant, the dwelling place of God among His covenant people, resided in a tent. David wanted to build a "house" (Temple) for Yahweh. Instead of David building a house of worship for God, Yahweh promised to reward David by building him a dynastic "house." God formed an unconditional covenant with David, promising that He would be a "father" to David's son(s), He would never withdraw His covenant love from David's "house/dynasty," and David's "house/dynasty" would endure forever. The Davidic covenant promises come to fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth, son of David and Son of God. The Responsorial Psalm recounts David's reaction to receiving God's promise of an eternal covenant for him and his heirs. The Church applies this psalm to Jesus as St. Athanasius wrote: "We read here how he who was made incarnate through the power of the divine economy calls God himself his father: 'I go up to my Father and your Father, my God and your God' [Jn 20:17]. He is the one of whom the prophet speaks: he calls the child that is born 'Mighty God, Everlasting Father' [Is 9:6]" (Expositiones in Psalmos, 88). In the Second Reading, St. Paul concludes his letter to Rome's Christians with a doxology of praise. He addresses his praise through Jesus Christ to God the Father Almighty, who has revealed the mystery of His divine plan. The mystery was kept secret "for long ages." It was announced in the prophetic writings of God's holy prophets and made known to all the nations of the earth when God revealed it through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God calls all nations and peoples to "the obedience of faith" in accepting His gift of salvation through the sacrifice of God the Son. In the Gospel Reading, nearly every word the angel speaks to Mary echoes God's promises after the Fall of our first parents and His divine revelations to the prophets concerning the future Davidic Messiah. Mary is the "woman" whose "seed" (offspring) will crush the Devil/Serpent (Gen 3:15; Rev 12:9), and she is the virgin prophesied to bear a son of the house of David (Is 7:13-14), the one who is the "Prince of peace" (Is 9:5). Mary of Nazareth is "the daughter of Zion" called to rejoice that her king, the Lord God, has come into her as a mighty Savior (Zeph 3:14-17). The son she bears is the Redeemer-Messiah, who comes in fulfillment of the covenant God made with David in today's First Reading. As we sing in the Responsorial Psalm, He will be "a king forever" (Ps 89:4) and will call God "my Father" (Ps 89:26). As St. Paul writes in the Second Reading, God has revealed this great mystery to bring all nations to salvation through the "obedience of faith" (Rom 16:26). 00:00 – Intro 00:17 – Collect 00:44 – First Reading 02:33 – Responsorial Psalm 04:54– Second Reading 05:37 – Gospel Reading 07:35 – Recommended Videos