FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

The account of the Visitation, unique to Luke, illustrates Mary as the first Christian. She receives the Word and acts on it. The recognition of John the Baptist in the womb precedes that of Elizabeth who in turn is filled with the Holy Spirit so that she can hail the mother and the Son (Luke 1:39-44). Micah looks to the day of the new David of Bethlehem, far greater that the current occupants of the throne (Micah 5:1-4). The real body of the Lord, who will subsume all the other sacrifices in his suffering, is prepared by God (Hebrews 10:5-10).

The second rule that Dei Verbum gives for the interpretation of Scriptures is that the texts are composed by real human authors. This means that the Church is clearly distanced from fundamentalist interpretations. The interpreter must therefore examine what the original author intended and pay attention to the literary form of any pericope (DV 12). The written text incarnates, as though it were, the voice of the Spirit. This parallels the reality of the Word made flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Canon Mervyn Tower