{"id":649,"date":"2017-12-21T04:26:17","date_gmt":"2017-12-21T04:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/?p=649"},"modified":"2017-12-21T04:26:17","modified_gmt":"2017-12-21T04:26:17","slug":"homily-advent-week-03-03-yr-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/21\/homily-advent-week-03-03-yr-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"HOMILY ADVENT WEEK 03 03 – Yr II"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prophecy Fulfilled<\/em><\/p>\n

(Is 7:10-8:10; Ps 24; Lk 1:26-38)<\/p>\n

*******************************<\/p>\n

Scripture tells us that the sign of a true prophet is the fulfillment of that prophecy. There are countless prophecies in the Old Testament that are proved to be true, because they are fulfilled completely by the birth of Jesus among us, the mystery of the Incarnation.<\/p>\n

In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah confronts King Ahaz and challenges him to act on faith and ask for a sign, which he refuses to do. Isaiah then gives him a sign, this prophecy: \u201cLook, a virgin is with child and shall bear a son, and name him Immanuel.\u201d What could be simpler and clearer than that, written centuries before the time of Jesus?<\/p>\n

Turning to the gospel, we see that prophecy being fulfilled, almost to the letter, as the angel Gabriel appears to the virgin Mary, informs her that she will conceive in her womb and bear a son, who will be named Jesus. The angel adds that he will be the Son of the Most High, rule over the throne of his ancestor David, and his kingdom will be eternal.<\/p>\n

Mary, naturally, is perplexed, but not unbelieving. She ponders this news and asks how it could be since she was a virgin. She is told that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the Most High will overshadow her \u2013 so her child will be holy and called Son of God. What is striking here is the inclusion of both the Holy Spirit and the Most High God \u2013 an allusion even at the birth of Jesus of God as Trinity \u2013 Father, Holy Spirit and Jesus, Son of God.<\/p>\n

The key to the whole scene is in the last line \u2013 Mary\u2019s \u201cFiat\u201d or \u201cYes\u201d \u2013 \u201cLet it be with me according to your word.\u201d Upon her acceptance lay the future of the world, and she was able to believe, trust, surrender and allow God\u2019s will to be done in her life, and as the saying goes, \u201cthe rest is history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary\u2019s faith, her fiat, and all the prophecies fulfilled at the birth of Jesus, are invitations for us to not just venerate Mary, but to imitate her, to be like her as much as we can. We can do that especially by pondering and praying with God\u2019s Word, especially through contemplative prayer, and then serving the world through our gifts and talents, as Mary did.<\/p>\n

When I was ordained a priest in 1975 by then Bishop Adam Exner OMI, Sr. Connie Piska UdJ of Edmonton gave me a gift that she had made herself, a black and white silhouette of Mary and her \u201cYes\u201d, her \u201cFiat\u201d to the Holy Spirit hovering over her. That gift has been hanging in my bathroom ever since then, a daily reminder of God\u2019s invitation to me to give my \u201cYes\u201d to doing God\u2019s will as she, and her son, did.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The psalm response adds the dimension of opening ourselves up to let the Lord enter our lives as the king of glory. We can do that by striving to have \u201cclean hands\u201d \u2013 that is, to live lives that are just and fair to all in all circumstances. For one person who was in business, that meant full disclosure of his financial dealings, which the Word of God challenged him to do.<\/p>\n

We can also strive to be \u201cpure of heart,\u201d to be single minded in our service of the Lord, and not let ourselves be drawn into lives of dissipation or sexual impurity of any kind. There is a saying in the 12 Step program that can be helpful to those struggling in this area: \u201cIf you don\u2019t want to slip, don\u2019t go where it is slippery.\u201d<\/p>\n

The angel Gabriel ends his message to Mary with the reminder that nothing is impossible to God. That too can invite us to an even deeper faith, to let go and let God, to trust that in the end, as Julien of Norwich put it, \u201cAll will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of being will be well.\u201d<\/p>\n

With every celebration of the Eucharist, what seems to be impossible happens \u2013 humble gifts of bread and wine, symbolizing both our sufferings and our joys, the totality of our lives, are transformed by the Holy Spirit that hovered over Mary, into the Body and Blood of Jesus. As Mary gave flesh to Jesus through the Incarnation, Mother Church now gives us the body and blood of Jesus through the Eucharist.<\/p>\n

May our celebration, and the knowledge of all these prophecies fulfilled, strengthen our faith in Jesus as Son of God, deepen our trust in the power of God to work the impossible in our lives, and empower us say \u201cYes\u201d to God\u2019s call to follow his Son Jesus more closely in our lives.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prophecy Fulfilled (Is 7:10-8:10; Ps 24; Lk 1:26-38) ******************************* Scripture tells us that the sign of a true prophet is the fulfillment of that prophecy. There are countless prophecies in the Old Testament that are proved to be true, because they are fulfilled completely by the birth of Jesus among us, the mystery of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advent","category-homilies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":651,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649\/revisions\/651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}