Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent

In his work, The Great House of God, Max Lucado writes:

“You stalk the malls, walking the aisles and searching for that extra-special gift. Stashing away a few extra dollars a month to buy him that leather jacket, staring at a thousand rings to find her the best diamond, staying up all night on Christmas Eve, assembling the new bicycle.

“Why do you do it?

“So the eyes will pop, the jaw will drop. To hear those words of disbelief: ‘You did this for me?!’

“And that is why God did it. The next time a sunrise steals your breath or a meadow or flower leaves you speechless, remain that way. Say nothing and listen as heaven whispers, ‘Do you like it? I did it just for you.’"

The miracle of Christmas is that God could love us enough to become one of us, that God could humble himself to take on our humanity and transform the human condition in his holiness.

As St. Augustine preached, "God loved us so much that he who made time entered time for our sake; he who is an eternity older than the world became younger in the world than many of his servants; he who made humanity became human. He became a creature through a mother he had created; he was carried in arms he made. From his crib arose in his infant cries the Word of God, without whom all human eloquence falls mute."

As we do for others this holiday season, may we be mindful that our love mirrors the love of God. May our words, actions, and attitudes mirror those of our God as we reach out to others this Christmas. May the good we do bear fruit in this life and the next, and may our actions live beyond this season of giving.