Fourth Sunday of Advent 2020

Lectionary: 11

To him who can strengthen you, according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages but now manifested through the prophetic writings and, according to the command of the eternal God, made known to all nations to bring about the obedience of faith, to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever.
Amen.

How often have we prayed for strength during this past year? We have shared a communion of suffering with family and neighbors, with fellow citizens whom we've never met, and strangers we'll never meet. The epidemic that visited our homes is, in fact, a pandemic which grips the whole world and challenges every human being on Earth. If we remember other plagues like the Bubonic Plague of the second millennium, and the 1918 influenza, we have never heard and witnessed the suffering of millions all at once as we do today.

Predictably, the crisis has been met not only with grief, but also resentment, suspicion, and denial. People who habitually flee from hard truth, or dubiously take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing make fools of themselves, only make matters worse for those who are trying to alleviate the situation.

As we prepare for Christmas with the traditional sacrifices -- prayer, fasting, almsgiving -- we draw strength from the "mystery kept secret for long ages" which is revealed to those who observe the season of Advent.The Evangelists give us stories of happiness in images of brilliant light and lowering darkness. Saint Matthew's story of the magi who worshipped the Child with joy is cast against the threat of King Herod's "homage" and Jerusalem's distress. Saint Luke sets the Child's birth in rural poverty among shepherds. Our Savior could not be born in royal splendor with choirs of sycophants singing just outside the labor room. We would neither recognize nor welcome such a bizarre baby.

The plague reminds us of the values we have neglected, especially of maintaining our health care systems and their availability for everyone. When medical care is reserved for those able to pay private doctors, for-profit hospitals, rehabilitation and nursing homes, it will be overwhelmed by a plague as devastating as any that struck Egypt in the Book of Exodus. When the big bucks in medical care are reserved for specialists who treat one patient at a time, and not for community-based health care, you know we're set up for disaster.

Health care is for everyone or for no one. Catholics know that because we remember the Lord's healing everyone who came to him. Even before the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, we read in chapter four,

He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.

Twenty centuries later, we realize the world has not changed as much as we thought; our Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) neither prevent sin nor protect us from its punishing consequences.

The mystery kept secret for long ages but now manifested through the prophetic writings and, according to the command of the eternal God, is the reassurance we find in Jesus's presence with us. 

He comes to save us, not to fix us. As much as we appreciate physical and emotional healing, we must know the spiritual healing of his abiding presence in our poverty and vulnerability. The lamb has come to live with his sheep; those who quit denying their bovine foolishness welcome him.

Until the Judgement Day our sinful pride will foil our best efforts to save ourselves. For every good effort we make in our human compassion for one another, we sabotage it when we fail to go the extra mile, give our shirts as well as our jackets, and turn the other cheek.

Christmas celebrates the God who gave his only begotten son to the Earth, restored him to life when we killed him, and appointed him to gather his own into the Kingdom. God in his infinite mercy gave more than he could afford because there is no other way to save us. And we must do the same.