Dec 20, 2020, Sunday Motjari Meeting: Fr. Foeckler’s lecture note

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4th Sunday of Advent

Today is the last Sunday of Advent.

Today’s Gospel is about Annunciation, the Angel coming to Mary

Gabriel told 4 things about the child she’s going to bear

Gospel, LK 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.

“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“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 called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.

4 promises the angel made to Mary are:

1. Child will be great.
2. He is the Son of God.

3. God will give him the throne of David

4. He will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will be forever

This is related to today’s 1st reading, where Nathan was told by God,

1. David is going to be great, 
2. and his kingdom will be great. 
3. The descendants of David will be Sons of God. 
4. His kingdom will last forever.

2 SM 7:1-5, 8B-12, 14A, 16

When King David was settled in his palace,
and the LORD had given him rest from his enemies on every side,
he said to Nathan the prophet,
“Here I am living in a house of cedar,
while the ark of God dwells in a tent!”
Nathan answered the king,
“Go, do whatever you have in mind,
for the LORD is with you.”
But that night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said:
“Go, tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD:
Should you build me a house to dwell in?’“

“‘It was I who took you from the pasture
and from the care of the flock 
to be commander of my people Israel.
I have been with you wherever you went,
and I have destroyed all your enemies before you.
And I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth.
I will fix a place for my people Israel;
I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place
without further disturbance.
Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old,
since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel.
I will give you rest from all your enemies.
The LORD also reveals to you
that he will establish a house for you.
And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors,
I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,
and I will make his kingdom firm.
I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me.
Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm forever.’”

The promise that has been made to David mirrored what Mary had been promised.

Solomon, who was the son of David, was the greatest king after David. Queen of Egypt seek for his wisdom, brought a lot of treasure. But he was not faithful, not devoted to God, thus fell out of God’s favorite. He reigned about 80 years. As soon as died, the kingdom of David split into two. Rehoboam and Jeroboam, Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south for 4 generations. The Assyrians captured all the Northern kingdom. No more Northern kingdoms, lost forever. In 581, Babylonians came to Jerusalem and destroyed all. The last king wasn’t put to death, but his sons had been killed in front of his eyes, he had been blinded and put to slavery after all.

God promised David, but these things happened.

David was to one who wrote Psalms. He had been very faithful, but his sons are not. Within 500 years, his kingdom disappeared. 

Psalms

R. (2a) For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

The promises of the LORD I will sing forever;

through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.

For you have said, “My kindness is established forever”;

in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.

R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

“I have made a covenant with my chosen one,

I have sworn to David my servant:

Forever will I confirm your posterity

and establish your throne for all generations.”

R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

“He shall say of me, ‘You are my father,

my God, the Rock, my savior.’

Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him,

and my covenant with him stands firm.”

R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

Today’s Psalms is about being  faithful to God.

Mary had been betrothed to Joseph. Joseph is a descendant to David. He’s the one who gave Jesus’s name officially. Jesus will re-establish the David’s kingdom, God had promised.

The Feast of Christ the King. (November 22, 2020) << Spiritual kingdom, not a political one.

Jesus birth was predicted in many different ways.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign;* the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel.

3 magi: 

Micah 5:2 Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time, when she who is to give birth has borne, Then the rest of his kindred shall return to the children of Israel

God keeps his promise.

Wait for it, and watch.

The annunciation: 30 AD, 500 years after the last king. 

Herod was not a descendant from David. He was not even full Jewish, he was just political tetrarch. 

Before he goes to heaven, Jesus blessed his disciples, told them, “know that I will be with you.” He left His church with us now.

One day, he comes definitely, everybody will see him. In the mean time, he comes to us in every mass, every time when we remember LORD, when we remember he reside in our soul.

Christmas is all about Jesus came to us and being with us.

“Jesse tree”

Isaiah 11:1 But a shoot shall sprout from the stump* of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.

From Isaiah 11:1 we know He is from the line of Jesse, the father of King David: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will bear fruit. The spirit of the Lord will rest on him.”

The tree has cut off, but a shoot, a little will start growing from there.

Jesse is David’s father. Even when the kingdom was disappeared, a shoot will grow and form a huge tree.

Please keep a prayer for the Reynolds family, whose father had died of COVID-19 and survived by a wife and 3 children. Also please keep everyone who suffered from COVID.

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