On the Back Porch
Reading, pondering and studying God’s Word is sometimes best done “on the back porch.” Each week we will try to offer something for you and your “back porch time.”
4th Sunday of Advent, Year C
What We Celebrate
This is the 4th Sunday of Advent and now the scene shifts to St. Luke’s Infancy Narrative, specifically the event we know as the Annunciation – “During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth” (Luke 1:39-40).
While we might not think of undertaking a journey as being that remarkable, we need to be mindful that as a young girl, Mary would not normally have left her home without accompaniment—either locally or to travel some seventy miles from Nazareth to the hill country around Jerusalem. Until her marriage, a young girl lived in the confines and security of her family home. It is also noteworthy that Mary’s journey is not in obedience to the angel, who gave no such command.
The reason for Mary’s visit to her relative Elizabeth can be found in an earlier proclamation of the Angel Gabriel: “And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” (Luke 1:36-37). And so Mary sets out. What happens when she arrives is turning point in Salvation history.
As always, a lot going on in the gospel reading. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and take a moment on the back porch with the Word of God.
Full Text of the Sunday Readings
Detailed Commentary
The Visitation | Giotto | Lower Church of the Basilica of St. Francis | Assisi, Italy | PD-US
The Ark of the New Covenant
There is a scene in 2 Samuel when King David is bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem.”Then David came dancing before the LORD with abandon..David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts of joy and sound of horn.” (2 Sam 6:14-15). In its own way that scene is repeated in our Gospel for the 4th Sunday of Advent. As Mary, pregnant with Jesus, comes onto Elizabeth’s house, “For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy“. John’s leap acknowledges the significance of Mary as Theotokos, or “God-bearer.” Just as David danced before the Ark of the Covenant, John’s leap parallels this joyful recognition of God’s presence in Mary’s womb, signaling the sacredness of Mary’s role in carrying the Messiah.