December 22, 2024
Revised Common Lectionary
Micah 5:2-5a
Psalm 80:1-7 or Luke 1:46b-55
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-45 (46-55)
Lectionary for Mass (RC)
Micah 5:1-4a
Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 (4)
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-45
Have you ever noticed how those who seem insignificant or come from unexpected places often wield greater and more lasting influence than the powerful and wealthy?
Consider Anne Frank, a Jewish girl just twelve years old in 1942 when she and her family went into hiding from Nazi occupiers in a concealed annex in Amsterdam. Their hiding place was discovered in 1944, and the entire family was sent to Auschwitz. Anne, only fifteen, died at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in February 1945. Yet during their time in hiding, she kept a diary, published in 1947, which Eleanor Roosevelt later described as “one of the wisest and most moving commentaries on war and its impact on human beings that I have ever read.”
Or think of Malala Yousafzai, born in Pakistan’s Swat region, where the Taliban at times banned education for women and girls. At just eleven years old, she began writing a blog under a pseudonym, detailing life under Taliban rule. Her bravery led her to become an outspoken activist, despite her youth. Even after surviving an assassination attempt in 2012, she emerged as a global advocate for education and women’s rights. One day, she was called out of chemistry class to learn she had won the Nobel Peace Prize—later remarking, “When you get the Nobel Peace Prize for education, you have to finish your school day.”
Today’s Scripture readings invite us to look for signs of God’s presence and power in out-of-the-way places and among marginalized, seemingly insignificant people. The prophet Micah associates the coming of God’s chosen one not with Jerusalem, the seat of the Davidic dynasty, but with the small village of Bethlehem, recalling David’s humble beginnings as a shepherd boy. Unlike rulers who had strayed from caring for their people, this new leader “shall stand and feed his flock” (Mic 5:4) and usher in a reign not of conquest but of peace: “He shall be the one of peace” (Mic 5:5).
In the Gospel of Luke, we encounter two unlikely figures at the heart of God’s unfolding story. In a patriarchal society under foreign occupation, what significance could come from the meeting of two women on the margins? Mary visits Elizabeth, not in Jerusalem, but in an unnamed, obscure town in the Judean hills. Both women are pregnant—Mary, young and unmarried; Elizabeth, old and long past childbearing years.
Yet it is not Zechariah, the silenced priest, who recognizes the presence of God’s chosen one, but his wife Elizabeth, “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Lk 1:41). She proclaims, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Lk 1:42). Mary responds with the Magnificat—a hymn of praise that exalts God for looking with favor on her lowly estate and announces the arrival of a kingdom where the lowly are lifted up, and the mighty are cast down.
In just a few days, we will celebrate the coming of God among us in the form of a child who is born to poor parents in the obscurity of a smalltown stable. His birth is revealed not to the powerful but to shepherds, people of no social standing, keeping watch in the night.
As we reflect on today’s Scriptures and the approaching Christmas feast, doesn’t it stand to reason that even now, God continues to surprise us? God speaks and acts in unexpected ways—through obscure places and unlikely voices. Are there overlooked voices, unassuming events, and unnoticed places even today where God’s grace is breaking through, calling us to recognize the divine at work in the world?
A Hymn for Today: “When, to Mary the Word”
On the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the Gospel readings appointed in all three years of the Lectionary proclaim the role of Mary in bringing Christ into the world. Today’s story of Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth is delightfully retold and interpreted in this hymn by Patricia Blaze Clark, a poet and hymn writer who served in ministry in both Roman Catholic and Episcopal communities.
When to Mary, the Word
From the throne of the Lord
Made the journey to earth on that day,
Mary turned not within
But, with haste, to her kin;
She set out for a land far away.
At the sound of her voice
Did her cousin rejoice,
While the babe in her womb danced around;
For when Jesus, the Lamb,
Spoke his silent “I AM,”
Prophet’s ears filled with joy at the sound.
Like our Mother, we should
Give our neighbor our good,
As within us the secret is hid;
For, in truth, then will show
For all others to know
All the wonders that God for us did.
And as John surely knew,
Although hidden from view,
That the Lord was indeed with them there,
So may we with delight
Take within our own sight
Jesus, living in souls ev’rywhere.
Text: Patricia Blaze Clark, 1938-2009, © 1998, GIA Publications, Inc. Used by permission under OneLicense #A-729857
Tune: MIDDLEBURY
Image Credit: Visitation, Church of St. Elizabeth, El Sitio, El Salvador, 20th cent.
“Word and Song: A Lectionary Reflection” is written by the Executive Director of The Hymn Society, Rev. Dr. Mike McMahon. For his full bio, click here and scroll down to the “staff” section.
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