Homily for the Week of December 23, 2012

Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year C, 2012
Mi 5:1-4a
Heb 10:5-10
Lk 1:39-45

Catholics and Christians associate Christmas, not only with the birthday of Jesus, but also with Christmas trees and decorations, gift giving, family gatherings and Christmas cards and Christmas Carols. While each of us may have one or two favorite Christmas carols, O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM is mone of the most popular. It was composed by a young Protestant minister from Philadelphia named Phillips Brooks, The minister had gotten tired out so he needed to do something or go somewhere to get refreshed. He took some time off and decided to go to the Holy Land. He traveled by horse through much of the Holy Land, and on Christmas Eve, he arrived on a hilltop outside the small city of Bethlehem, six miles southwest of Jerusalem. This was the city of David and the birthplace of Jesus. He was struck by its smallness. It was so small it was hardly a town, but it still stirred Rev. Brook’s imagination. As he gazed at the village from the hilltop in the evening light, he was inspired to write a poem.
O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep,
the silent stars go by.

Lewis Henry Redner, the church organist wrote the music for ''Oh Little Town of Bethlehem.''

Our first reading by Micah today mentions Bethlehem. It is interesting that at his time Syria, like today, was being at war. This time the Syrians were invading Israel. But they never destroyed Jerusalem. However, the Syrians appointed corrupt leaders who cheated the Jewish people and also required them to worship strange gods. Micah preached hope for those who still loved God. The poor and the lowly had struggled to remain faithful, and God would rescue them. From a village too small to rank as a clan of Judah, from the poor, would come the one who “shall be peace.” Micah mentions that this village is Bethlehem.

Bethlehem was a very small town, more a village really, a short distance from Jerusalem. It was a one-industry town: it produced bread for sale in Jerusalem. The name ''Bethlehem'' actually means ''little house of bread.'' Its only claim to fame was that it was the birthplace of David, thus it is sometimes identified as ''The City of David.'' Beyond this, it was just another overlooked village among many small villages near Jerusalem. ' If Jesus had not been born there, it might even not exist today. It is an irony that such a small, insignificant place would play such an enormous role in history. It is a reminder to us that those who might seem insignificant -- the poor, the elderly, today's ''widows and orphans'' -- are not insignificant in the eyes of God.

Our Gospel which I just read is the story of two pregnant women meeting each other. Mary, a young woman who had just become pregnant goes to visit Elizabeth, her older cousin who was in her six month of pregnancy with her first child. Both of their pregnancies had unusual circumstances. Mary, a young girl, conceived her son Jesus through the Holy Spirit, and Elizabeth, wife of Zechariah, was expecting her child as an older person. When Mary met Elizabeth they hugged each other and her infant leaped, as the Bible mentions. Mary went to see Elizabeth because she trusted her, and she wanted to talk with her about becoming a Mother. Elizabeth also may have needed some comfort. She was a pregnant older woman who must have been tired. Both women needed caring and comfort. Elizabeth provided comfort to Mary whose son Jesus would provide comfort for the whole world.

Like the village of Bethlehem Mary herself was a relatively insignificant person. She was a young girl from another small village. Her responses to the angel Gabriel and even to Elizabeth let us know that even Mary considered herself insignificant. By no means she did suffer from ''poor self-esteem.'' She was just simply humble knowing that she was from a poor family in a poor village.

Mary teaches us a lesson: being from insignificant families in insignificant places does not make us insignificant. We are reminded that idea of significance does not come from places or families. Our significance comes from God. All human life is significant. This was the message of God's choice to become human and enter our world. There were those in Nazareth who tried to put Jesus down by reminding everyone that He was just a carpenter's son, the son of Mary, and everybody knew His family -- meaning no one thought the carpenter's family was anything special. In this context Micah's words take on deep meaning when we ponder how God uses what we might consider insignificant: ''You, Bethlehem, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel.''

Elizabeth, Mary's cousin, gives a sense of what we can do for those who are alone or feel abandoned or suffer at this time of year. Elizabeth made clear that she recognized that her young cousin from Nowheresville was significant. Those of you who are parents know first hand that Little babies and children depend entirely on their mother and father. Many of us do not have the experience of pregnancy, but we do not need that experience to understand, to comfort, to reassure, to encourage someone who comes to us. On this Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day, in fact on every day, our greeting must be so full of peaceful love that, like Mary, our greeting will move people to acknowledge Jesus Christ within them. Maybe first all, let us acknowledge that Jesus is in our heart and our faith.