21 December 2024 – 4th Sunday of Advent (Year C) (Sunset Mass)

by Fr Fabian Dicom

A few weeks ago I visited a dear friend in the hospital. She was preparing for a significant operation the next day. And as you can imagine, her heart was heavy with fear and uncertainty. I told her that I brought someone special to meet her. And I told her actually he has been here all the time. And she was wondering what I was talking about and looking around for this person. And then I took out the pyx which was around my neck containing Holy Communion, a Eucharist, and gave her communion.

She was overwhelmed. Tears streamed down her face as she whispered ‘Thank you for bringing Him to me.“

In that moment it was a powerful experience even for me. In that moment, the presence of the Lord became her comfort. The presence of the Lord became her strength and her peace. It was deeply moving not only for her but also for me. She felt reassured knowing that she faced her surgery and she was not alone when she did that. The Lord was with her in a real and tangible way.

And many other experiences that she has recounted to me in the last weeks has given her the strength to face a very serious illness.

Now the ministry of bringing the Eucharist to the sick, our brothers and sisters who are here, the elderly and the homebound, is one of the most sacred gifts we offer as a community of faith. Our ministers of the Eucharist remind us every week that Christ’s presence is not something we summon and transport but something we make visible and tangible. Their ministry and my ministry reflects the call of today’s Gospel, in which Mary meets Elizabeth, carrying Jesus with her.

Now Mary’s journey to Elizabeth is a story of presence. It is a story of love. It is a story of recognition. 

Elizabeth does not encounter Jesus for the first time in that moment. Let me explain. We hear in the Gospels and in scripture. In the Gospel of John, the word was there before everything. The word was in the world. And at a certain point, it became flesh. It just did not come into being. Jesus was there as part of three persons in one God before the foundation of the world.

So what happens to Elizabeth? She awakens to the profound truth that God is already here, present in Mary and in the life stirring within her, within Mary. Her joy burst forth as she explains, “Why should I be honoured with the visit from the mother of my Lord?” Even the child in her womb leaps, recognising the sacred presence.

As the New Testament scholar and historian of early Christianity, John Dominic Crossan often emphasize, he says this:
Incarnation is not about God descending into our world but about awakening to the truth that God is already here. God is present in every moment, every relationship and every act of love.

He is.

The challenge is not to wait for God to arrive. We carry baby Jesus and put Him in the crib on Christmas Night and we think ‘Okay that is when He comes in‘. That is just a ritual that we remember that God became man. 

The challenge is not to wait for God to arrive but to open our eyes, to open our hearts and our lives to the One who is already among us, in the faces of the poor, in the cries of the oppressed and even in the messiness of our own struggles.

He is here!

Mary’s visit to Elizabeth was not an isolated act of divine intervention. It was an expression of what is possible for all of us when we live with an awareness of God’s presence.

Mary’s journey was one of love and service. She went to her cousin not because she was commanded to but because love compelled her. She carried Jesus not as a distant and abstract idea but as the living reality of God within her.

Through her presence, Elizabeth recognised and rejoiced in God who was already there. Why should I be honoured with the visit from the mother of my Lord? Even the child in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy, recognising this.

We too, my dear brothers and sisters, you and I, are called to this kind of mindfulness, this kind of awareness. We see this Spirit alive in the every day acts of love within our parish.

I think of those who visit their elderly neighbours, ensuring that they have what they need.

I think of adult children, many of you here, who care tirelessly for their aging parents, often at great personal cost.

I think of spouses, and I know many who make daily journeys to visit loved ones in the nursing homes, simply to sit with them and remind them that they are not forgotten.

I think of some of you in your own quiet and unassuming way you reach out to the poor and the forgotten.

These acts are not merely human kindness. These are sacred moments of recognition. They are sacred moments of encounter. They are modern day visitations, echoing Mary’s journey to Elizabeth. They are reminders that God is already with us and our role is to make that presence known.

As Christmas approaches, we often speak of it as a time where God comes to visit us. But the deeper truth of Christmas is that it celebrates the revelation of a God who has always been here, in the person of Jesus. In the person of Jesus, God’s eternal presence became visible in a unique way – in flesh and blood.

Jesus came to awaken us to the reality of God’s nearness. No matter what we are going through, to show us that God is not waiting for us to be perfect, to reach some lofty spiritual plain. Instead, God meets us where we are, in our imperfections, in our struggles, in our ordinary lives and invites us to live more fully in the light of His love.

This Advent, my dear brothers and sisters, let us embrace this truth. When we bring the Eucharist to the sick, when we sit down with a friend in need, when we simply offer a kind word to someone who is hurting, when we reach out to someone in need or when we courageously stand up for those treated unjustly, we are not bringing God into their lives for the first time. We are helping them to recognise that God has always been there, waiting to be seen, waiting to be felt, waiting to be embrace.

So as we prepare for Christmas, let us shift our focus from waiting for God to arrive to recognising that God is already here.

God is with us. Emmanuel.

Let us strive to be mindful of His presence in the quiet moments of our days. We need quiet moments. We really need quiet moments. Even in church, before we start Mass, let us settle down and be quiet. Enough of chatter. There is so much chatter going on and there are people trying to prepare for Mass. We need that quiet time.

(baby crying). That is all right. That is a baby. That is fine, it is perfect. It is a rhythm in our community. Praise God for that.

Now, all unnecessary noise should stop. Let us be mindful of His presence, not only in quiet times, in the face of those we meet and in the love we share.

Mary’s journey to Elizabeth can be our inspiration. It reminds us that the greatest gift we can offer this Christmas is not found in the boxes wrapped with ribbons but in the gift of our presence. In being truly present in one another we reveal the God who is already among us.

This Christmas, may we not only celebrate God’s visitation but also awaken to this deep and wonderful truth that God’s presence is here, now and always.

May we live in that awareness and may it fill us with joy, fill us with peace and fill us with hope.

Amen.

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