TEXT: Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 22, 2004
December 22, 2024 Father De Celles Homily
4th Sunday of Advent
December 22, 2024
Homily by Fr. John De Celles
St. Raymond of Peñafort Catholic Church
Springfield, VA
In the last few days, most of us have been giving or receiving Christmas gifts.
Some open the gifts they receive right away, but many people put them under the tree and wait to open them on Christmas.
And I think everyone–from the smallest child to the oldest grandparent–
finds a certain thrilling fascination with all presents, wondering what’s inside.
That fascination is often enhanced by the packages they come in:
The huge box under the Christmas tree
with the bright shiny paper and the gold and red ribbons and bows
is always a conversation stopper.
But perhaps even more fascinating, because of the mystery it presents,
is the present that comes in a tiny box,
wrapped in plain paper, maybe even without a bow.
What could that be?
Today’s readings present us with five little presents,
five tiny packages very humbly wrapped,
but containing the very greatest of treasures.
The first package is the town of Bethlehem,
a small little backwater village,
where nothing terribly important had happened for over 1000 years.
And yet, Scripture tells us that the gift that is in her
“shall reach to the ends of the earth.”
The second package is the child in the womb of St. Elizabeth,
St. John the Baptist.
He was a child that, even when he grew into a man, wouldn’t be much to look at
in his very humble wrappings of animal skins.
But he was a child of whom it would one day be said,
“I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.”
The third package is a young woman from Nazareth, the Blessed Virgin Mary.
She was perhaps a uniquely beautiful, intelligent, and virtuous girl,
yet still humble in manner and origin,
living a life completely self-effacing and self-emptying.
She was one who called herself “the handmaid of the Lord,” and “His lowly servant.”
And yet, St. Elizabeth tells Mary in today’s Gospel,
“Blessed are you among women,”
and Mary herself will respond,
“All generations shall call me blessed.”
Each of these three figures from Scripture
is recognized as being good in and of themselves.
But the most important and best thing about all three of these figures,
like a package wrapped in simple paper and a string bow,
is not who they themselves are,
but the treasure they contain or bring to us.
In fact, the extent to which they are good themselves is because they were specially prepared to bring the greatest gift the world has ever known.
Bethlehem is the City of David in order that David’s greatest descendant
might be born there.
John is “the greatest man born of a woman” so that he could prepare the way
for the one whose sandals he was unfit to unstrap.
Mary was “full of grace” and “blessed among women,”
so that she could be the mother of the baby
who was Grace and Blessing Himself.
A great thing comes in these small humble packages in today’s Scriptures:
Each, in a unique way, contains the gift of God the Son, Jesus Christ.
But for each of these packages to contain Jesus, they must first receive Jesus.
To receive Him, they must be prepared to do the will of God.
In today’s first reading, we read the ancient Prophecy of Micah
that promises Bethlehem that she will be the birthplace of the Messiah.
So for hundreds of years, this tiny village
prepared and longed for that day when she would fulfill God’s will.
In today’s Gospel, St. Elizabeth tells us that St. John is so eager to get on
with doing the will of God that he “leapt in my womb for joy”
when he found himself in the presence of Jesus for the first time.
And finally, today’s Gospel tells us that Mary,
after surrendering herself completely to the will of God,
saying, “Let it be done to me according to your word,”
and receiving the child Jesus into her heart and into her womb,
she almost immediately
“set out, proceeding in haste into the hill country” to visit Elizabeth,
wasting no time to begin doing the will of God.
These three figures of Scripture, “packages”, come to contain Christ
only by eagerly seeking to fulfill the will of God.
I mentioned before that there are five packages or presents in Scripture today,
but so far, I’ve only mentioned three.
This same desire to fulfill the will of God also brings us to what–or “who”
–might be called our fourth “package”: the tiny Baby Jesus Himself.
The Jesus we find in today’s Gospel is the tiniest and most humble of packages.
He is a package smaller than the head of a pin,
only a few days after His conception in Mary’s womb.
But even so, it can be said,
as the adult Jesus says to his Father in today’s second reading,
“A body you have prepared for me.”
It is this body which is the package of the greatest gift of all.
Of course, we don’t think of this body as a mere package
that Christ will someday throw away as unimportant because this body doesn’t just contain God the Son,
and it doesn’t just conform to the will of God.
This body is God the Son made flesh,
and the will of God made really personally present to the world.
But in a certain sense, it is the perfect package
because the reason for packages is
to contain things so that they can be brought as presents to others.
Bethlehem brings a savior to the Jewish shepherds and the Gentile magi
to come to adore Christ.
John brings the Word of God to Israel and prepares Jesus’ way.
The Blessed Mother brings her son into a home and a family
and presents Him to all who will welcome Him and love Him.
And through the incarnation and birth of Christ,
God brings Himself bodily, presenting Himself and His will
in a living, breathing, and complete way for all mankind.
As the second reading reminds us,
“We have been consecrated
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
This last quote from today’s second reading leads us to the fifth “package”
presented in today’s readings.
St. Paul tells us we have been sanctified by Christ’s body,
which was offered once for all.
The fifth package is us–all the members of His Church.
In this Advent season, we’ve been preparing ourselves to receive Christ
by trying to more and more conform ourselves to the will of God.
But once we’ve received Him into our lives,
we’re also called to be packages which carry the gift of Christ to all we meet.
So, through us, the prophecy made to little Bethlehem can be fulfilled:
“From you shall come forth…one who is to be ruler in Israel;
…And…His greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth.”
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Today, when you go home and you see all the presents under your Christmas tree,
remember Bethlehem, St. John, and the Blessed Mother.
Ask yourself if you’re prepared to receive Christ into your heart this Christmas.
Have you, like Bethlehem, held firm for all these days and weeks and years
believing God’s promise would come true?
Have you, like John, leapt at the chance to do the will of God?
Have you, like the Blessed Virgin, set out in haste to do the will of God–
blessed because you trusted that the Lord’s words would be fulfilled?
And have you prepared yourself so that once you have received Christ,
you will be ready to carry Him and present Him to everyone you meet,
at every moment and in every situation?
As you contemplate the presents under the tree, think:
What is the greatest gift I will receive,
and what is the greatest present I will give this Christmas?
And if the answer to both isn’t “Jesus Christ”
then all the shiny bows and bright paper,
and all the expensive toys and watches and books they contain
mean nothing, and your Christmas will have no lasting meaning.
Because at Christmas, and every day of every year,
the greatest gift comes in the smallest most humble package
–a baby wrapped in the womb of His mother for nine months
and presented to the world on the first Christmas day.