Fourth Sunday in Advent. After last Friday’s horrible events in Newtown we are trying to attempt to return, albeit with great difficulty, to Advent this weekend and to prepare our hearts and minds for the celebration of the Lord’s Incarnation into humanity. As I mentioned last weekend, while we continue to reflect on God’s call to each person to seek goodness and charity, to be people of hope and compassion—those things that help us to avoid the darker side of humanity—we do recognize that even God Himself suffered evil in the human world—His Only Son, innocent among men, was also put to death in a supreme act of injustice. As we continue to pray for the innocent souls taken on December 14, 2012, we must look to the future and focus our attention on why God entered into our world; so that our very being would be transformed and for those who follow Christ, all will be made well and all will share in His Eternal and Divine Life.

I read last week an excerpt from the 14th century English poem entitled The Pearl, in which a young girl, not quite 2 years of age, dies and her father wanders about her burial garden in utter despair. One day the father sees a vision—a flowery garden far off, just beyond a beautiful river. There in that garden, a young lady, grown to maturity, is seated on a bench. She chides her father for his missing her as she explains to him that she is now a queen in heaven. In fact, all the blessed ones in heaven are kings and queens. The father asks, “How can this be?” She explains that Mary is the Queen of Courtesy by God; all the rest are queens and kings by the courtesy of God. In heaven all share in God’s divine and royal life. She is happy beyond belief.

Pain and suffering is part of our human life, but for those in the presence of the Blessed One, only Joy exists—for ever and ever.

And so today’s readings speak to that joy. Today we hear of the Visitation of the unborn Christ in the womb of Mary, who visits Elizabeth and her unborn child, John the Baptist. This scene brings to mind a happening of every expectant mother…when their unborn child moves within them, the joy and excitement they feel. In years past, the common experience of this happening was, save for the mother, to place one’s hand on the mother’s stomach to feel the child within move—a twist, a kick, a turn. Today’s technology with the advancements in ultrasound technology allows us all a “window in the womb” and we can now see what God has always known, the development of the human person within his mother. Today we can see thumbs being sucked, summersaults and more—we see the unborn child living in harmony with his mother and through her, the world outside.

As we prepare for the Christmas celebration of the Incarnation (literally meaning “taking flesh”) we come to understand this physical reality of God working in and through a real human body and real people. The prophet Micah as well as the psalmist in today’s readings foretells how God would come as a shepherd, but one with divine power and majesty. The ancient ones also describe “God as descending from the heavens to protect His people, like a gardener cares for the vine. God’s hand would stretch out over them. God had promised to be close to His people and care for them. “In becoming one flesh with us, Jesus fulfills this promise, standing beside us. His physical body becomes the place where people can meet the living God, and in the sacrifice of that body on the cross our sins are forgiven.”

This God, this Emmanuel (literally meaning “God with us”) has chosen to create us out of love, to redeem us out of love on the Cross, and to keep us in His love by the gift of the Holy Spirit sent to be one with us until the end of the ages. And then, our God loves us so much and desires us that He gives us the gift of eternal life with Him. We need only freely love Him in return and choose to be one with Him in our words and actions. The Visitation is much more than just a cute story to be told before Christmas. It is an invitation to deepen our faith in everyday practices. It is a call to trust in God’s Love. It is also a call to recognize that we have all been called uniquely by God—called to be “mothers of God”—as someone once said…mothers of God because Jesus needs to be continually born in our lives.

Especially this Christmastime, with all that has just taken place in Connecticut, let us focus on God’s love for His people—each of us—and then realize that like Elizabeth and Mary (and all those before us) we have been called by God—called into His wonderful life, and called to begin that life in all that we say and do in the here-and-now.

May this Christmas begin anew in us the desire and the actions to be Christ in this world of great need. Let us promise the newest citizens of heaven that this Christmas we will all work to make Christ be born anew.

Merry, blessed and happy Christmas to you and yours