Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday is the fourth and last Sunday in the season of Advent, and this year, due to the nature of the liturgical year cycles, Advent is at its shortest, hence, this Fourth Sunday of Advent is immediately followed by Christmas, which begins just this evening with the Christmas Vigil Mass. Yet, this does not diminish the importance of this last Sunday of Advent, as it acts for us as a very crucial reminder of what Christmas is all about, and that is about Love, the Love which God has shown to each and every one of us, and which has been manifested to us in the person of none other than Jesus Christ Himself, the Holy Child born unto us and which we celebrate about in Christmas.

This is why, after having reflected on the Aspects of Hope, Peace and Joy in the previous three Sundays of Advent, today we all focus on the Aspect of Love, reminding us that everything that we are about to celebrate in Christmas beginning with tonight is all possible now because of the Love of God that has always endured all these while for us. For without God’s Love, there would have been no hope for any one of us, and we would have ended up in damnation and destruction because of our sins caused by our disobedience against God. It was God’s ever patient and enduring love which brought us all from the depth of this darkness and despair, into the light of His salvation and grace, again through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, the reason for our Christmas joy.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard of how the Lord told His servant, King David of Israel who ruled over the whole people of God, through the prophet Nathan that He would make his reign secure and He would provide for him and his house, that the reign of David and his successors would be everlasting, and the House of David would indeed rule forever over the whole people of God. God also reassured David that He would take care and look after His people Israel, guiding and shepherding them down the right path. This came about when King David told Nathan how he wanted to build a House of God for the Lord because he felt that it was inappropriate that he lived in a house and palace of cedar and fine wood and yet the Lord was housed in a tent, referring to the Ark of the Covenant.

The Lord instead pointed out to David that while it may seem that He was present through the Ark of the Covenant among the people, His Holy Presence resting on the Ark itself as the proof of His existence and love for His beloved people, but it does not mean that He could be contained within the Ark or the Holy Tent of Meeting, or any House that King David or anyone else would want to build and establish for Him. God reminded David that He has been with His people and with David himself, at all times and at every occasions and places, and His Presence amongst them transcended time and space, and He would always be with them all, caring for them and being with them forever.

Now, as the Lord also told David that it would not be him who would be the one to build the House of God, but his son, this was a reference to King Solomon, who succeeded David as King of Israel, and was known for his efforts and works in building the first great Temple dedicated to the Lord, that is Solomon’s Temple. However, there is actually also a deeper and hidden symbolism amidst what the Lord had told King David, in that the ‘Son of David’ mentioned by the prophet Nathan was also a premonition and hidden prophecy about the coming of God’s salvation through Christ, Who is indeed David’s Heir, and also considered and known as the Son of David, the One sitting on David’s Throne as the rightful Ruler over all of God’s people.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the moment when the Archangel Gabriel revealed to Mary, the Annunciation of the Lord, that is when the Good News of God’s salvation was finally revealed to us through Mary, who was to become the Mother and bearer of the Saviour of the world. In fact, Mary became the New Ark of the New Covenant and the Temple and House of God because in her, the Lord Himself, the Divine Word and Son of God had been incarnate in the flesh, and dwelling within her blessed womb, free from any taint of sin, hallowed and sanctified by God, to be worthy to hold the Divine and perfect essence of the Almighty Himself in her. The love of God for us all had made it possible, because God endeavoured and did all things to ensure that we can be reconciled and reunited to Him.

That was why He willingly chose to embrace our humanity, becoming incarnate and one with our human flesh and existence, and thus, becoming tangible and real to us, making the love of God manifested in this world, no longer far and apart from us. He wants to lead us all by hand, and as our Shepherd and King, He wants to bring us all close to Himself, gathering us all from all the ends of earth. And this is echoing what the Lord had spoken to King David through His prophet Nathan in our first reading today. God has come into our midst to lead us and guide us all to Himself, and He did all these because He has truly loved each and every one of us, for even though we are sinners, but we are still precious and beloved by the Lord.

We must understand and keep reminding ourselves that what the Lord despises is not us, but instead our many sins and disobedient actions and attitudes which had caused us to be separated from Him in the first place. He always cares about us and through His Son, He has shown us that perfect love manifested completely and in a tangible manner before us, that we may have hope and rejoice once again because of Him and His love. That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we renew our commitment to the Lord from now on, and do our best that we may always love the Lord and remember the most perfect and wonderful love that He has shown us, that He did not hesitate to suffer a most painful and humiliating death for our sake and our salvation?

Let us all prepare ourselves well for the beginning of the joyous Christmas season that begins tonight, with a renewed faith and zeal, with greater love and devotion to God, and the willingness to do whatever we need so that we may always embody the love of God in our every moments in life. If God has loved us so much that He was willing to come into our midst and even adopting our humble human existence, and even to suffer and die for us, then should we not love Him in the same manner too? May the Lord be with us all and may He bestow His love and kindness to us, so that our Christmas celebrations and festivities will always be full of His love, in us loving Him more and more devotedly, and in our love for one another, now and always. Amen.