Homiletic Outline

Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year B)

Prepared by Ric Anthony Reyes, OSA
READINGS
The First Reading from the Second Book of Samuel (7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16)

Now when the king was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the
king said to the prophet Nathan, "See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent." Nathan said to the
king, "Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you." But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan:
Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?
I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you
wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of
the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their
own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed
judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD
will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after
you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to
me. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

Responsorial Psalm (89: 2-3; 4-5; 27;29)

Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

The promises of the LORD I will sing forever,

proclaim your loyalty through all ages.
For you said, "My love is established forever;
my loyalty will stand as long as the heavens.

I have made a covenant with my chosen one;

I have sworn to David my servant:
I will make your dynasty stand forever
and establish your throne through all ages."

He shall cry to me, ‘You are my father, my God,

the Rock that brings me victory!’
Forever I will maintain my love for him;
my covenant with him stands firm.

The Second Reading from the Epistle of Paul to the Romans (16:25-27)

Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to
the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is
made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith – to the
only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.

The Gospel according to Luke (1:26-38)

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man
whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored
one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The
angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and
bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will
give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no
end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.
And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be
barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me
according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.
THE OUTLINE
A. Introduction

 Central Idea of the Gospel | Faith as obedience to God’s Word. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me
according to your word.” (Lk 1: 38)

 Catechesis | Obedience is intimately tied with the act of faith. Why? For obedience is an act of submission of both
intellect and will which is also an essential characteristic of faith as a response to God’s self-revelation (cf. CCC # 143).
Moreover, the Church assures us that this free submission of our capacity of reasoning and doing to the greater
capacity of God over us is not a wasteful risking for faith is guaranteed by the truth of God (CCC # 144). This is
testified by the Letter to the Hebrews which speaks of faith as an assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen.
Mary is the model of this obedience of faith. She believed the Word of the angel to her that she will be the Mother of
the Savior. “She welcomes the tidings of promised brought by the angel Gabriel, believing that ‘with God, noting will be
impossible’ and so giving her assent…” (CCC # 148).

B. Body (a three-pointer reflection)

The first two readings and the psalm prepares our conviction to obey in faithful obedience. 2 Samuel foretold the
promised generation of the Messiah to David through Nathan which we are called to faithfully expect for its coming, and the
Psalm is a sweet song of faithful and unwavering waiting until the promised one appear for this promise is founded over God’s
enduring love which our Church teaches as a guarantee to be true that same love is our God himself and the letter of Paul to
the Romans proclaims this promise to fulfillment in the obedience of faith. Now, in this obedience, the gospel offers us three
important points to reflect as we wait for the imminent coming of our Lord in the celebration of Christmas.

1. The obedience of faith as our ‘guiding star’ towards the promised salvation. The spark of faith which God
gave us as a pure gift of his benevolence is actually our sure way not to lose track towards salvation. Mary’s faith
is an embodiment of this gift used in its most authentic form. She believed and pondered to her heart the words
(Lk 2:51) which reveal the nature of her vocation without any tangible guarantee aside from the very truth that
God is behind all these wonders. We recall too, the risk of the magi who literally travailed the wasteland of the
ancient Palestine for the star of the savior and just to behold the boy who would win the salvation for the world.
My friends, our obedience of faith is never guaranteed by the fleeting or passing materiality of the world, it
guarantees itself by its very goal: God himself.
2. The obedience of faith as an enduring hope of the future fullness of salvation. Pope Benedict XVI’s reminder
to us that the intimacy of faith and hope is a partner that never departs for it is simply the same gift of God to us:
Obedience to God’s Word is faith and it is at the same time prolonged by the hope of its future promise. As in the
first point offers us, faith is not a waste for hope brings us Christians to “know in general terms that [our] life will
not end in emptiness (Spe Salvi # 2). It is so consoling to know dear friends that to have the glimpse of our future
salvation though vague as in a mirror (1 Cor. 13:12) heightens all the more our longing and hope for that day.
3. The obedience of faith is a response of the Children of the Disobedient Eve. The figure of Mary’s faithfulness
in the gospel is contrasted with the primitive unfaithful and disobedient Eve. It means that in Mary’s obedient
faith, she opened the possibility of salvation of the generation of Eve which is naturally the sinful human nature.
In the ancient antiphon which the Church sings in honor of Mary, it proclaims: “Eve shut all her children out of
paradise, the Virgin Mary open wide its gates” (from the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday, Liturgy
of the Hours). While our first parent alienated us from the goodness and contact to God, Mary’s “fiat” to the will of
God started to bridge the gap that separates us from God which was eventually fulfilled in the death of her Son on
the cross. In that “fiat” the Virgin will give birth to the savior of the World from sin and we will be made again
friends of God.

Conclusion

We have seen how our faith leads us to God. And in this very Sunday, we are asked to imitate Mary’s obedience as the
pure realization of that faith. She is our model; we ought to follow her lowly and faithful obedience to God. This last week of
our preparation and anticipation of the Word coming to the flesh, let us ask ourselves: Did we put flesh or realize our faith in
the way Mary did? Did we hope for a greater and joyful expectation of the promised salvation by preparing our lives in the
right way? In this same question, have we followed the impulse of our faith rather than the impulse of our own whim? Let us
therefore pray to God through the intercession of Mary that we may become lowly servants of God, believing His words no
matter how we are not assured by the world of its future effect: the salvation promised to us. Amen.