To Do Your Will

To Do Your Will

December 23, 2012

Fourth Sunday of Advent 2012 C

By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ

He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock by the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD, his God; and they shall remain, for now his greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth; he shall be peace.  Micah 5:3-4

"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.  And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?   For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.  Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."  Luke 1:42-45

Piety

Sometimes it is worthwhile to make a mountain out of a mole hill. There are many little things worth doing. The “Hidden Life” grace is the awareness that the little is significant in the kingdom of God. Recently the nation mourned the death of little ones in the senseless violence of a terrible shooting of children. Without their ever realizing it, these children became important to all of us who were not there. A part of us died in a violence that made no sense at all. In a loud and forceful way, our world was taught not to take our little ones for granted. Every child born into our world is important. And how much more important is the child born into our world to die on the cross for our sins. Violence is fed by violence. Piety challenges us to be people of peace. Our piety leads us to protect life the best we can. Abortion is a cutting off of the chance for life and prevents someone from having the chance to be a Christ to our world. Piety brings the challenge to look for Christ in each person of our lives. Piety is the respect for life that is part of the holiness of each of us if we are going to take Christ seriously.

Study

We pray over the Visitation of Mary to her cousin. We acknowledge John the Baptist as the first to be aware of Christ.  Before the actual birth, we have the awareness of a child carried in the womb as a real child. The prophet Micah spoke of this child whose greatness reached to the ends of the earth. This child offers the peace our world needs. Peace comes in the little things of life becoming significant in the love that accompanies them. It is the 30 years of the hidden life of Christ that puts importance on every little thing anyone does. It will never be the act itself. It will always be the love that accompanies any act that brings the importance of what is done. Love is our living our lives for others.

Action

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire. It is written in the Book of Life that one would do the will of God. God has a plan for each of us. We are part of a plan that is bigger than any one of us. The life of each child gives meaning to our lives. No child has lived in vain if we are a better person for knowing a little one. The good that we do that flows out of what happened to the little ones in the slaying of the Innocents continues their lives in us when the good we do is more than would have been if they did not live.