Build Me a House

December 21, 2008

Fourth Sunday of Advent

By Rev. Joe McCloskey, S.J.

“Here I am living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God dwells in a tent!”…But that night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said: “Go, tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Should you build me a house to dwell in?’” 2 Samuel 7:2,

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Luke 1:30

Piety

The promises of the LORD I will sing forever, proclaim your loyalty through all ages. For you said, “My love is established forever; my loyalty will stand as long as the heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: I will make your dynasty stand forever and establish your throne through all ages.” Psalm 89:2-5

Study

The Lord is almost here. Do I have a place ready for the Lord? Can I say to the Lord that I am ready for his coming? How intensely do I await him? How badly do I want him? Our readings are about having a place for the Lord. The cry of Mary needs to be ours. “May it be done to me according to your word.” We all have been given a place in the plan of God. God chose of all the possible worlds that could have been the world where we would make the free decisions we have made in our lives. God calls us into his life by our baptisms. The waters of Baptism make us children of God. Even as we are baptized into the life of Christ, he comes to dwell within us. We can never be worthy of his coming. His coming is gift.

He comes as the child of Mary that we will not be overwhelmed by the power and the dignity of God. He has loved us so much that he has given his life for us. He will begin as a baby so that all our little beginnings will have meaning in his birth in the stable. What sort of a home do I have I ready for him this Christmas? We celebrate his coming in the simplicity of the stable. What am I going to do this Christmas to honor his coming?

Mary conceives in her womb the Son of God. She is his first home here on earth. Because she carries her son to term she becomes the model of our spirituality. Mary gives Christ to her world from the stable. We are called to give Christ from our hearts to all the people we serve. We are more than stables. We are temples of the Holy Spirit. God dwells within us. We can make Christ the center of our lives. All our actions can be his if we live our lives as real Christs. He did not think it to be too much to put aside all that belongs to him as our God to be born of Mary. He is truly by his birth one of us. We can truly be one with him by our living our lives in the fullness of his spirit. Our work is the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages but now manifested through the prophetic writings.

Action

Christmas is the time we give gifts to one another. The gifts we give are to the Christ that dwells in each one of us by our rebirths in Baptism. We celebrate the birthday of Christ. “We are a Word Made Flesh People.” Putting Christ back into Christmas celebrates our humanness. The gifts we make by our presence to each other in the family makes this time special to God. Christ is never out of Christmas in the gifts we give. What gifts we give to the poor and the needy are the gifts that go directly to Christ. This is the custom of the giving tree in Churches where names are given for the chance to reach people who do not have the wherewithal to give gifts to their own family. Whatever we do for the least ones of our brothers and sisters in Christ, Christ takes as done for himself. When we give such a gift we can offer it up for those who have so much of the plenty in life that we wonder how to find them a fitting gift. The best gift for the person who has everything is a gift given by us in their name to Christ in his poor. The gifts I most remember are the ones where people reached the poor I would never know with a gift they told Christ they gave for me.