{"id":2754,"date":"2018-12-23T12:53:48","date_gmt":"2018-12-23T17:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2754"},"modified":"2018-12-23T12:53:55","modified_gmt":"2018-12-23T17:53:55","slug":"4th-sunday-of-advent-year-c-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/4th-sunday-of-advent-year-c-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"4th Sunday of Advent, Year C – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

4<\/a>th<\/a><\/sup> Sunday of Advent, Year C<\/a>
Micah 5:1-4a
Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 (4)
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-45
December 23, 2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God loves us.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

John 3:16 tells us that \u201cFor God so loved the world that he gave his\nonly Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have\neternal life<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love requires us to be free to choose how\nwe respond to God\u2019s love.  God gives us\nfree will.  We can choose to love God and\nour neighbor, or we can choose to live life in our own way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Yet, in our psalm response today we sang, \u201cLord, make\nus<\/strong> turn to you.<\/em>\u201d  How does this\nmatch with having \u201cfree will\u201d?  That\u2019s\nsimple.  We use own free will to make our\nown choices.  When we realize that we\nhave not made good choices we repent.  Sometimes\nchange for the better comes easily. \nOther times, we find ourselves stuck in our patterns of sin.  We can\u2019t seem to make the needed changes on\nour own.  That is when we turn to the\nLord for help, asking<\/em><\/strong> him to \u201cmake us<\/em><\/strong>\u201d turn to him.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not God forcing us\nto change against our will.  That would\ndeny free will.  Rather, it is \u201cfaithful\nsurrender\u201d on our part, realizing that God\u2019s way is a better way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not easy to resist\nsin.  We see repeated cycles of sin and\nrepentance throughout the Old Testament. \nWe can see in our own lives.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Old Testament\nsacrifices were offered over and over for the forgiveness of sins.  Those sacrifices were often seen as making up\nfor the sins but how can such sacrifice really make up for sin?  What God was (and is) really looking for was\nthe act of repentance leading to the sacrifice. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was needed was a\nperfect sacrifice, made once for all. \nOnly one who is perfect, can offer a perfect sacrifice.  That\u2019s why Jesus came.  God prepared a body for his Son to offer it\nas the one true sacrifice.  Paul reminds\nus that in offering this sacrifice, Jesus came to do his Father\u2019s Will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long had a messiah been\npromised to the Jews.  The prophet Micah prophesized\nthat the messiah will come from Bethlehem, \u201ctoo\nsmall to be among the clans of Judah<\/em>.\u201d \nGod chooses to work through the \u201csmall\u201d and humble.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are very close to\ncelebrating the birth of our messiah, our\nsavior<\/strong>.  I already mentioned that in\nthe first part of our psalm response today we sang, \u201cLord, make us turn to you<\/em>.\u201d \nIn the second part of the response we sang \u201clet us see your face and we shall be saved<\/em>.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God sent his Son Jesus,\nconceived in the womb of his mother Mary, the Word made flesh, God incarnate,\nand born just like us.  Yet, Jesus is\nconsubstantial with his Father.  So, when\nwe see the face of Jesus, we see the face of God.  When we see the face of Jesus, we see our\nSavior who gives his life on the Cross so that our sins will be forgiven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God does this because he\nloves us.  He gains nothing for\nhimself.  God is not made any better\nhimself when we are saved.  Jesus offers\nthe sacrifice of his life on the Cross as an act of love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before Jesus freely gave\nhis life for us, he celebrated the Last Supper. \nThere he gave us the Eucharist, his Body and Blood<\/em><\/strong>.  He proclaimed it saying, \u201cthis is my body,\nwhich will be given up for you\u2026This is my blood which will be poured out for\nyou.\u201d  He unites the Eucharist to his\nsacrifice on the Cross and tells us to do this in memory of him.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eucharist is the\nmemorial of the death and Resurrection of Jesus.  The Eucharistic Prayer we use today describes\nthe Eucharist as \u201cthis pledge of his love\u2026the Sacrifice of perfect\nreconciliation\u201d that we offer back to God as we celebrate this Mass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We celebrate Christmas\nthis week.  Perhaps you were expecting me\nto talk more about Christmas today than I have. \nUntil now, I haven\u2019t used the word Christmas in this homily.  Yet, what I have talked about is the\nvery purpose of Christmas<\/em><\/strong>.  Why\nwas Jesus born?  Jesus was born to be our\nSavior.  As our Savior, he shows us his\nlove in all he has done for us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

4th Sunday of Advent, Year CMicah 5:1-4aPsalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 (4)Hebrews 10:5-10Luke 1:39-45December 23, 2018 God loves us.  John 3:16 tells us that \u201cFor God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.\u201d Love requires us to be …<\/p>\n

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