Fourth Sunday of Advent

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Sunday: Fourth Sunday of Advent Date: December 19, 1999 Year: B The readings: [2 Sam. 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16; Rom. 16:25-7; Lk. 1:26-38] The message: OF HIS KINGDOM THERE WILL BE NO END. Prepared by: CATHOLIC DOORS MINISTRY Total words: 1569

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** The readings follow the sermon.
Greetings to all of you my brothers and sisters in Christ. In a few days, we will join together to celebrate the coming of the Light of God into the world. Today, we will review the fulfillment of God's promise of the coming Heavenly Kingdom through Christ. Of His Kingdom there will be no end.

Beginning with today's First Reading from the Second Book of Samuel, we heard that when David was king over the Jewish nation, God had brought peace to his land. Through King David, God had delivered His people from all their enemies.

In appreciation for the greatness of the Lord God's victory over his enemies, king David went to the prophet Nathan, expressing his concern that while he was living in a beautiful wooden house of cedar, the Lord God dwelled in a tent. Now, a tent might have been suitable for God when His people were moving around because of persecution. But now that their home had been established and their victory had been secured, surely, God deserved something better than a tent.

Hearing king David's concern for a dwelling place for God, the prophet Nathan told him that God was with him. As such, he should do whatever his heart calls him to do so God may have his rightful place among His people. But, God had other plans! That night, He spoke to Nathan, telling him to give a message to His servant king David.

In a way, God's words go like this: "Oh yea, are you, king David really going to build a house for Me, your God, to live in? Who took you from the field where you were a shepherd who followed the sheep to place you as a prince over Israel? Have I not been with you everywhere you went? Did I not destroy your enemies before your eyes?"

What God was implying was that no human being could build a house that could hold God? A house is not good enough. An eternal Kingdom is better. And no one but God could build an eternal Kingdom!

Considering king David's love for God and his righteous heart that desired to provide the best for the Lord, God made a promise to king David.

In simple words, God said, "I will raise your name like the name of the great prophets so it will be remembered forever. I will personally select a place for My people and I will firmly establish them so they may live in their own place. No one will ever force them to move or oppress them again as has been happening since the days when judges were appointed over the people. The people will find rest from their enemies."

God continued by saying that He would give king David children. And after king David has died, from his offspring, God would establish His Kingdom.

At this point, it is important to note that God is referring to someone who will descend from king David. The Kingdom that will be established will be "His" Kingdom. God continued by saying that He would be a Father to Him, and He shall be a Son to Him. To clarify this, the Heavenly Father will be a Father to Jesus and Jesus shall be a Son to Him.

God finished by saying that through Him, through Jesus, king David's family tree and His Kingdom shall be remembered forever by the Lord. The throne of king David shall be established forever.

Keeping in mind other contents of the Holy Scriptures, when we summarize what God has just said, we hear of His promise that at the coming of Jesus, God would establish His Heavenly Kingdom. The Kingdom would be establish at that time, not later in time, not 1,000 years later or 2,000 years later, but at the time of the coming of Jesus as the Messiah, as God incarnated.

From today's Second Reading from the Book of Romans, St. Paul tells us that God is able to strengthen us in the Spirit of Truth. Through the words (the gospel) of St. Paul, God makes known to us His mysteries. God spiritually disposes the minds of the believers who hear the proclamation of Jesus, He Who revealed God's mystery that was kept secret for centuries and which has now been revealed. This knowledge and understanding of the Divine wisdom of God's mysteries through Christ is made known to all (the Gentiles) according to the Divine Will of God, to bring everyone in obedience to God through faith in Christ. For the eternal glory belongs to Jesus Christ.

In other words, St. Paul was saying, listen to and obey the words of Jesus Christ. For through Jesus, the salvation of mankind has come to all, the Jewish nation and the Gentiles. The Kingdom of God has come on earth as it is in Heaven. It is not a Kingdom that can be seen but rather a spiritual Kingdom. [Jn. 18:36] God's Kingdom is among you. [Lk. 17:20-1] Through Jesus, you will find the complete fulfillment of God's promises to the prophets.

[In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father's one, perfect, and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one. (Catholic Catechism # 65)]

How did all this come to pass? Today's last Reading from the Gospel of Luke answers that question.

God sent an angel called Gabriel to a small town in Galilee called Nazareth. The angel appeared to a virgin called Mary who was engaged to be married to Joseph, a descendant of the house of David.

According to the Rheims, 1582 A.D. English translation of the Latin Vulgate Version of the Holy Bible, the angel said to Mary, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." [Lk. 1:18] Imagine an angel appearing to you and saying those words. Surely, you will answer, "What?" Being human as we are, the Blessed Virgin Mary was also confused and wondered what kind of greeting she was receiving.

Then the angel said to Mary, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God." To find "favour with God' means that the grace of God is with you. It also means that God has chosen you. Continuing, the angel said, "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."

In response to the words of the angel Gabriel, Mary said, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" By now, the Blessed Virgin Mary must have really been confused. An angel appeared to her, told her that she would have a Son when she was a virgin, that her Son would inherit the throne of David when the Jewish people no longer had any kings ruling over them, and that His Kingdom will be eternal. In other words, thinking with a worldly mind, it is like saying that the Son of Mary would never die so He would rule eternally over His Kingdom.

After all, were the people of the Jewish nation not waiting for a worldly Kingdom to come? That was their conclusion of God's words. God never said that He would establish an earthly Kingdom but rather an eternal Kingdom.

To add to all these impossibilities, the angel said to Mary that she would become pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit and that her Son will be holy, He being the Son of God.

As a sign to the Blessed Virgin Mary that all this was truthful, the angel announced that her cousin Elizabeth who was in her old age would also conceive a son, she presently being six months pregnant.

Hoping against all hopes, the Blessed Virgin Mary, submitting herself to God's Divine Will, answered, "Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." After all nothing was impossible to Almighty God. The Blessed Virgin Mary was very familiar with the Scriptures as a Jewish girl. She knew of all the great things that God had done for her people, how He freed them from slavery, how He divided the Red Sea, how He brought them to the Promised Land, etc...

Then the angel departed.

As today's Readings tell us, of the Kingdom of Jesus, there will be no end. In a few days, Christmas will come upon us. On that day, we will celebrate the arrival of Jesus as the promised Messiah to establish His Divine Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven in fulfillment of God's promises.

As we continue to celebrate the Holy Mass, let us remember that the Lord Jesus is with us, having established His spiritual Kingdom on earth on the Day of Pentecost. May we remember that by partaking in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist in the visible Body of Christ, we are participating in the great feast in the invisible Kingdom of God on earth.

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The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

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First Reading...

"Now when David, the king, was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all the 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, David, 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, David, shall be established forever.' [2 Sam. 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16]

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Second Reading...

"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. [Rom. 16:25-7]

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Gospel Reading...

"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 the angel came to Mary and said, 'Greetings, favoured 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 favour 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 I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.' Then the angel departed from her." [Lk. 1:26-38]

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