December 22, 2019: The Fourth Sunday of Advent

The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.


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Christmas is often associated with light - twinkling bulbs on trees, multicolored string lights adorning houses, glittery greeting cards, and glistening snow. Especially during the generally dark and cold months of the winter season, the light of Christmas is met with joyful and open arms. 
 
“Light” is one of the most commonly used words throughout the Old and New Testament. Often, it is contrasted with the word “darkness,” which represents a life void of God. Jesus regularly refers to himself as “The Light of the World,” and the event of His birth is the first flicker of an everlasting light in all of salvation history, marked by a brilliantly shining star in the night sky.
 
In Advent, we recall the ages of longing, of the entire world and ourselves individually, for a Savior. Despite centuries of sin, distrust, and denial of God and his goodness, He still took pity on us in our suffering and aching for meaning and came to earth to suffer and die. All this to prove to us His phenomenal love. He punched through the infinite ocean of darkness to shine a light of mercy and hope, inviting every single one of us to a life full of meaning and purpose. One we don’t deserve, ever. Yet, despite it all, it’s all He wants. Now that is incredible.  
 
Christmas and Advent serve as a time to rediscover the light and wonder of life with God. In the readings for this Sunday, we encounter multiple characters – Isaiah, Paul, Joseph – experiencing the excitement in the revelation that the Savior will/has come. We can walk alongside them – Isaiah in realizing and revealing the fulfillment of God’s ancient promise; Joseph in his fierce trust in God’s plan, agreeing to walk alongside Mary into the unknown; Paul speaking to the Romans for the very first time, inviting them to a dazzling new life.  
 
Christmastime, and all of its twinkling light, serves as a reminder of the greatest event in history and of the everlasting light of God. No matter who we are or what we do, God has promised us since the beginning of time that this light will never be extinguished. 


Gabriella Miller is the Communications Director of The Philos Project, an organization dedicated to promoting positive Christian engagement in the Middle East. Gabriella is based in New York City and originally hails from sunny Denver, Colorado. You can find her on Instagram or check out her personal website.