Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to progress through the season of Advent towards the time of Christmas, let us all spend some time to reflect upon what we have just heard in our Scripture readings today. We heard about the story of how God had done great and wonderful things for two women, namely Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, and Mary, the Mother of God. Through both of their examples, which were highlighted in our Scripture passages today, we are all reminded of how God has always loved us and how He is always thinking of us, putting us all in His mind at all times. And as long as we all have faith in the Lord, then we truly have nothing to fear at all.

Indeed, we have to learn to put our trust and faith in God, just as how Hannah and Mary had been faithful in the Lord. At that time, Hannah has been beset with problems as she was unable to bear a child at all for her husband Elkanah, who also had another wife named Peninnah. Peninnah bore Elkanah a lot of children while Hannah had none at all, which led to Peninnah to bully Hannah frequently as Elkanah loved Hannah more than Peninnah despite Peninnah having borne him a lot of children. At that time, being barren and unable to bear a child was also considered as a curse by the people, and the blame often fell to the mother.

Therefore, Hannah went to the House of God and sought His help, and the Lord answered Hannah’s prayer, that she bore a child for her husband, named Samuel, whom Hannah promised to offer to God as her firstborn child. That child Samuel would go on to become one of the Lord’s greatest and most renowned prophets and also Judge over Israel. The Lord blessed Hannah and Elkanah thereafter, for their trust and faith in Him, as Hannah according to Scripture and tradition, went on to bear many more children for Elkanah, no longer barren but blessed by God. It was truly a great occasion that God helped a woman in distress, who trusted in Him.

In the similar way, at the time of Mary, when we heard of the Magnificat in our Gospel passage today, the song of praise that Mary sang in thanksgiving to God, it was also a reference both to herself and her cousin Elizabeth, who had a similar predicament to that of Hannah, because Elizabeth was also unable to bear any child for her husband Zechariah. It was then that the Lord also moved to help Elizabeth and Zechariah, and gave them a child, St. John the Baptist, who was also to become one of the Lord’s greatest servants just like the prophet Samuel, and through that, the Lord once again showed His great love and kindness.

Not only that, but Mary herself had been blessed even more than all the other women, including Hannah and Elizabeth, because she has been honoured and wonderfully blessed by God, to be the one to bear none other than the Lord and Saviour of the world Himself, the Son of God Most High, Jesus Christ, Incarnate Word of God in the flesh. That great joy which Mary showed in her song, as she was full of the Holy Spirit, is the kind of joy that each and every one of us should also have in us, as we look forward to the coming of the blessed time and celebrations of Christmas, joy that is focused, centred and about the Lord, our God and Saviour.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from all that we have heard from the Sacred Scriptures, we can see how the Lord had done so many good things and blessed all those who have been faithful to Him. While they may indeed face hardships and challenges, and their paths were far from being smooth, but in the end, what matters is that the Lord was always with them, and they gained greatly from their unwavering faith and trust in the Lord. Each and every one of us should therefore have this same kind of faith in the Lord as well, in how we should always put the Lord at the centre and focus of our whole lives and existence, in all the things that we do in our lives.

Let us all make sure that in this upcoming Christmas season, we may always continue to glorify the Lord and embrace Him ever more wholeheartedly, remembering that without Him there can be no Christmas at all. For Christmas is the celebration of Christ our Lord, and how He manifested God’s love for us, as He reached out to us in order to help all of us out, just as how He once showed His love, kindness and compassion to Hannah and Elizabeth, and He has shown us His enduring love in His desire to see us freed and liberated from the tyranny of sin, evil and death, through His coming into this world, and by opening unto us the sure and new path to eternal life through Him.

May the Lord continue to journey with us and be with us always, and may He bless us in our every actions, efforts and endeavours, all for His greater glory. May He help us to be able to embody the true joy of Christmas in all of our preparations for it, and that by our lives and way of celebrating Christmas, may all of us come ever closer to the Lord, and be the shining beacons of His Light and Good News to all. Amen.