Fourth Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

Our readings for Sunday are here. 

These are the poem, my notes, and interpretations of Fr Dennis Dillon SJ’s homily from the Mass of

• December 21, 2014 10AM

The poem Fr Dennis references this cycle are:

• From a Country Overlooked by Tom Hennen on December 21, 2014 10AM

In 2014, we reflected that —

• There is so much in these readings!!
• In the first reading, from the second Book of Samuel —
  • in Nathan’s response, as the prophet of God, to King David, there is all kinds of word play going on with the Hebrew word for “house” and some pretty ironic humor from God’s perspective
    • House as palace
    • House as temple
    • House as dynasty
  • It is this passage that the gospel captures when Gabriel tells Mary that God will her son / His Son “the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, …” (Luke 1:32-33) and makes real God’s words through Nathan that Jesus is (2 Sam 7:16)
    • of the line of David (both Joseph [Mt 1, Luke 3] and Mary [Lk 1, Elizabeth’s cousin, spouse of Zechariah, a priest of the Temple])
    • sprung from his loins
    • Messiah of all the ages
    • God’s promise fulfilled through Jesus.
  • The humor of the passage is David’s saying (paraphrased): I’m good; I gots the house of cedar, but … wait!! God in the Ark is in a tent!!  I need to do something!! … and Nathan, on behalf of God replies (paraphrased): YOU!?!  You’re going to build me a house when I’ve done all these things for you and the Jewish people?!?
  • rl note — thank you for pitching your tent with us, God.  🙂  the humor of this vignette reminds me of the Billy Collins’ poem, D2 shared, The Lanyard, in which a young child haphazardly creates a summer camp trinket and reflects back as an adult how implicitly the child version of himself thought it returned in measure his mother’s love.
• In the gospel, it’s striking how important the names are: Gabriel, David, Joseph, Galilee, Nazareth, Mary, Elizabeth.
  • This feels in contrast to God’s encounters with us without recognition or name
    • Example #1, the Samson story of this week in the daily readings, a man of God appears, terrible to behold, but knows not to ask his name or where he came from.  (Note: at the time, it was thought that knowing a person’s name and place gave you more control … and more relationship.)
    • Example #2, in the burning bush story with Moses, God gives a name that’s not a name: I AM WHO I AM.
  • And so … Luke gives us a very close / near placement / pitching of the tent of God with us / in us / among us / as the least of us of Jesus, our brother and Savior with the passage’s detailed lineage, names, and places. It is a reminder that Jesus is like us humans — with a genealogy, with parents, grandparents, and more.
• Tom Hennen’s poem, From a Country Overlooked (and unnamed, D2 added) offers an ordinary but grace-filled moment, like Mary’s encounter with Gabriel amidst her daily life:
  • “A frog calling at God”
  • a spot “so full of grace and being”
• This week’s image is The Annunciation (public domain) by Henry Ossawa Tanner, and held by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. By Henry Ossawa Tanner – Philadelphia Museum of Arthttps://philamuseum.org/collection/object/104384, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=133819364
  • Mary’s visage is one of my favorites — wonder, engagement, humility but no fear, no shrinking from One who Loves us, Gabriel, the angel of God.
  • If Gabriel seems as brilliant as the tungsten of a light bulb; you’re right! Tanner painted this image after witnessing one of many Tesla’s public programs demonstrating this new light. He had also returned from trips to Egypt and Palestine. 
  • Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937) was one of the first African-American painters in the European tradition to gain international acclaim. He spent much of his adult life in Paris.