Opening Prayer Series: Fourth Sunday of Advent

The Opening prayer for the Fourth Sunday of Advent reads as follows:

Let us pray

(as Advent draws to a close, 

that Christ will truly come into our hearts)

Lord,

fill our hearts with Your love,

and as You revealed to us by an angel

the coming of Your Son as man,

so lead us through His suffering and death

to the glory of His resurrection,

for He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,

One God for ever and ever.

In making this prayer tangible during this coming week, the following reflection questions emerged.

1. What has been our spiritual goal this advent- have we made progress during this advent?
2. What changes do I need to make to meet my advent goal this coming week?
3. What would it mean to me for Christ to truly come into my heart?
4. Why is the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ referred to in this prayer?
5. What good news will you reveal to family, friends, work colleagues, parishioners as an angel in their lives?
6. What gift will you give Jesus this Christmas?
   

Today we get closer to Christmas with the appearance of the angel to Mary.  In fact it is the scene of the annunciation- where the angel Gabriel is sent by God to ask Mary to be the mother of His Son.  It is important to note that the angel is sent by God to ask Mary.  God does not impose or force Mary to say yes. Her yes is an act of free will mixed with many moments of doubts and fears. This can give us encouragement too, since God can ask of us what seems to be impossible and yet, with our yes and doubts and fears, we can do God's will.

Another aspect of this gospel is that the angel Gabriel provided Mary with the details and answered Mary's question 'How can this come about since I am a virgin''.  The angel entered into dialogue with Mary. We too can enter into dialogue with God when we are doubtful and afraid and ask God the questions of our hearts.

The angel also provides Mary with the news about her cousin Elizabeth expecting a child. The gospel makes the clear distinction that Mary would conceive through the Holy Spirit whereas her cousin Elizabeth 'had in her old age, herself coneived a son''.  

At this time of the year we often hear unsavoury secular jokes about the virgin birth or that Mary was not a virgin, or that she had other children. We, as catholics need to be prepared to speak out and not allow our faith to be rubbished or trampled on. 

As advent draws to a close, let us remember the message from today's Gospel 

nothing is impossible to God.