Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 20, 2020 — Year B
Readings: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8B-12, 14A, 16 / Ps 89 / Rom 16:25-27 / Lk 1:26-38
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Last Friday, while I was celebrating the funeral service for Ed, a friend and parishioner at our sister parish, Resurrection, my attention was caught by his four-year-old granddaughter. She was embracing and hugging her stuffed animal all throughout the service, even until we went to the cemetery for the Committal.

After the graveside service, as I greeted Ed’s family, I asked her mother if that stuffed animal was her daughter’s favorite toy. She said that the stuffed animal was a gift from her Granddad, Ed.

The meaning of life and death may be too much for a little four-year-old girl, but she understands that although her grandfather is no longer around physically, she can still maintain a connection to him through this gift he gave her. She will be reminded, through this toy, for the rest of her life, how her grandfather loved her unconditionally.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, human as we are, we all need to be reminded of the simple things here in our lives that will give us strength, as we continue to move on and navigate all the trials in the sea of life.

In today’s first reading, which is taken from the book of the prophet Samuel, King David was resting and perhaps congratulating himself because he had just defeated all of his enemies. The prophet Nathan, at that point, relayed to him God’s message to remind him that the Lord God had always been with him. The Lord said, “I have been with you wherever you went, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you.”

Furthermore, the Lord told David that he did not need to build a house for God, and that instead, the Lord would build a house for David. The Lord said, “I will raise up your heir after you….Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever.”

The gospel that we have heard today is the fulfillment of this promise, as related in the story of the Annunciation. It took about a thousand years for God to fulfill this promise to King David, but He did keep His promise, when the angel said to Mary, “You will…bear a Son…, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Five days from now, we will celebrate this day which is the fulfillment of this promise, and which we also call “the most wonderful time of the year.” Yes, we call this Christmas.

During this pandemic, some people may say, “Christmas? What Christmas?” This perhaps may be the attitude of some, if they have already forgotten that God is the Creator of heaven and earth, and of us all. He became a human being like us, to save us.

But He also needs our faith. Since we all know we cannot come and go as we have been used to doing in the past to celebrate the season, we now have the time and opportunity to focus on the essentials and the most important things in life. We surely can once again put Christ in the middle of Christmas, because “He is the reason for the season,” after all. We can look around our homes and appreciate all the members of our families because they are God’s gifts to us. More importantly, we have the privilege to put the Lord Jesus at the center of our homes, at the center of our families, because He promised to be always with us.