Wednesday December 22

 

 

FOURTH WEEK IN ADVENT

 

THANK YOU, LORD! 

 

Introduction

Today is a celebration of thanks to the Lord, who does great things to humble people who trust in God. In the Old Testament Hannah gives thanks to God because he has given her a son. She dedicates him to God. Samuel will be a very great prophet of the Lord. And Mary, a young, humble, unassuming girl boldly sings out her joy and thanks to God who will upset the world’s values through Jesus, the Son to be born from her. With Hannah and Mary we sing out our joy and thanks to God.

 

Opening Prayer

God of the little ones,
with Mary we rejoice and give you thanks
that you let Jesus Christ become one of us
and let him bring us the dignity
of your sons and daughters.
May we live up to that dignity
and to the joy that says
that we are deeply loved by you.
Like you, may we also learn to care
for all that is little and brittle
and bring your justice to the poor
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Reading 1: 1 Sm 1:24-28 

In those days,
Hannah brought Samuel with her,
along with a three-year-old bull,
an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine,
and presented him at the temple of the LORD in Shiloh.
After the boy’s father had sacrificed the young bull,
Hannah, his mother, approached Eli and said:
“Pardon, my lord!
As you live, my lord,
I am the woman who stood near you here, praying to the LORD.
I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request.
Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD;
as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.”
She left Samuel there.

 

Responsorial Psalm: 1 Sm 2:1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd

(see 1a) My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“My heart exults in the LORD,
my horn is exalted in my God.
I have swallowed up my enemies;
I rejoice in my victory.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“The bows of the mighty are broken,
while the tottering gird on strength.
The well-fed hire themselves out for bread,
while the hungry batten on spoil.
The barren wife bears seven sons,
while the mother of many languishes.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“The LORD puts to death and gives life;
he casts down to the nether world;
he raises up again.
The LORD makes poor and makes rich,
he humbles, he also exalts.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“He raises the needy from the dust;
from the dung heap he lifts up the poor,
To seat them with nobles
and make a glorious throne their heritage.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

 

Alleluia

Alleluia, alleluia.
O King of all nations and keystone of the Church:
come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Lk 1:46-56

Mary said:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.”

Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months
and then returned to her home.

 

Intersessions

–   For all the good things we have experienced in life we ask the Lord to accept our gratitude: Lord, all thanks to you.

– For all who have received from God many talents and goods, that out of gratitude they may share them with others, we pray:

–   For our faith, for our brothers and sisters in our Christian communities and for the presence of Christ among us, we give thanks:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
we can bring before you no more
than the humble gifts of bread and wine,
which are, after all, gifts coming from your hand.
But do great things in them,
and let them become Jesus,
your Son among us.
Let him stay with us,
so that he too can do great marvels
in us and through us,
for he is our Lord now and for ever.

 

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God, God of hope,
accept our thanks and joy
for your love and justice
that come to us, however poor we are.
Let your Son liberate us
from our selfishness and cold greed
Weak as we are, let him give us the strength
to make love and service
the foundation of the new world
he wants to begin with us.
Thank you, Lord, for all this joy
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Blessing

With Mary we say: “the almighty has done great things for us. Holy be his name.” May almighty God keep blessing you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

Put down the mighty from their thrones and lift up the downtrodden! This is the war-cry of revolution. Revolution doesn’t mean a change of fashion, it means a violent upheaval in society. Or as Mao Tse-tung wrote in 1927, “A revolution is not the same as inviting people to dinner, or writing an essay, or painting a picture…. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.”

What have those two gentle women, Mary and Elizabeth, in common with Mao Tse-tung, one of the world’s most heartless dictators? Revolution! But surely not violence? Yes, violence too; that’s the most obvious thing in both revolutions. The difference is that Mao inflicted violence on hundreds of millions of people, while John the Baptist and Jesus endured violence. And countless Christians have endured it through the centuries. Strangely, this kind of revolution goes on forever, while the other burns itself out in a few generations, or even sooner. The most radical revolutionary becomes a conservative on the day after the revolution—and more than a conservative, a dictator.

I misquoted the Magnificat at the beginning. Mary did not say, “Put down the mighty…” but “God has put down the mighty….” That is the greatest difference between the two revolutions. The number one disciple, Peter, had chosen the way of violence, he was already using his sword, when Jesus said, “Put your sword back into its scabbard” (Jn 18:11).