Recent Homily

Fr Nelson Lobo OFM Cap

(Micah 5: 1-4a; Psalm 80; Hebrews 10: 5-10; Luke 1: 39-45)

FIRST READING: The Time is the 8th century before Christ’s birth. The place is Judah, which was commonly referred to as the Southern Kingdom. Assyria had arisen as a world military and political power. In fact, Assyria had successfully invaded the Northern Kingdom, Israel, destroying homes, families, villages and cities—taking the surviving people off into exile. From Israel, the Assyrian army moved southward, into Judah and executed several campaigns there. The Assyrians wanted to expand their empire right into Egypt. The people of Judah were living under a dark, menacing cloud. The future looked bleak. As the war went on, more and more people were killed, homes and possessions destroyed, family relationships broken. The people of Judah, so they thought, were on the brink of destruction. In the midst of this situation, God sends a prophet named Micah. Micah criticized Judah’s moral and social decay. In his sermons, he railed against the worship of idols—warning the people of the tragic consequences of their apostasy. In addition to this, however, Micah promised that God still loved his people and offered them hope for the future. It is this theme of God’s love and hope that we focus on now. In the midst of the people crying out in despair, “there is no hope, there is no tomorrow for Judah! We are lost and doomed!” Micah comes preaching a message of Good News—offering Judah God’s love, hope and deliverance.

Micah, as Hosea and Amos had done a generation before, raised his voice against this serious falling away from God. It was his painful duty to tell the people of Israel that the nation is in spiritual RUIN. That the nation needs REFORMATION. Reformation wasn’t enough as a vital ingredient was missing. Micah had a deep conviction about the reign of God which leads him to foretell a greater day when all creation will experience the wonder and peace of the rule of God. There was a coming Kingdom which would outlast the present kingdom and outshine it in blessing to the world. He’s given a message by God which points to the incarnation of Christ and His REDEMPTION-Micah was inspired to proclaim the coming of the Messiah, one of the most remarkable predictions of his ministry. He saw through the smog of his own day to a Ruler on the distant horizon. He saw this One coming out of human obscurity, not out of a position of power. Therefore Micah prophesied a complete RESTORATION-Micah knew enough of the Promised Ruler from Bethlehem to declare that He would be the author of a great restoration of God’s Kingdom at the end the age in the new heaven and earth (5:4-5).

Micah is confident to end his prophecy in a wonderful hymn of praise: “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant … ?” (7:18). This is our God – powerful to deal with sin, compassionate with our failures and faithful to His promises! There is no fear of God before their eyes.

SECOND READING: The writer to the Hebrews stated that Christ came into the world. Since He existed beforehand – He could have chosen anyone He wanted. He could have been born anywhere He wanted. Jesus could have chosen to be anyone’s son – Caesar’s, Herod’s, Ananias’, any priest’s, you name it. But Jesus chose to be born of a virgin – a lowly handmaiden who was engaged to a carpenter, not a priest – of David’s heritage. He chose to be born in a cattle stall, not a palace. Why? It wasn’t because He was afraid of Herod. He wasn’t trying to hide from his duty either. His purpose was stated in Psalm 40 – I have come to do your will, O God. God had predicted in Micah and Isaiah.

GOSPEL: God’s timing and plan are perfect, and we should learn from Elizabeth not to be bitter, depressed, or hopeless when things don’t go our way. Instead, we need to learn from Elizabeth that God has a perfect plan for us that might differ from the one we have. We need to continue to walk with God and trust Him until we see that plan of His unfold. It was God’s plan that Elizabeth’s son John would prepare the way for the Messiah. John couldn’t have been born sooner. He needed to be born around the time that Jesus was to live, in order to be used by God to announce the Messiah to the people. That perfect time was in Elizabeth’s old age. The result of Elizabeth’s patience and faithfulness to God was her son John, of whom Jesus Himself said that there is no one greater among men. Throughout Luke’s description of these events, the faith of Elizabeth never waivers, even though her husband Zechariah’s does. She doesn’t blame God, get angry and bitter, or lose hope. As a result, she is spiritually ready for the great work that God performs in her life.

There is a leap for joy because through the Christmas event we find that all things are possible with God. The virgin birth is a sign for us that God can, when he wants to, puts aside the laws of nature, the natural order of thing to do his mighty will. Mary understood this greatness of God, Mary knew that God had done something great. Mary knew that her glory came not from anything she did or didn’t do, but her glory came from God himself. She knew and understood her’s was a borrowed glory, a glory bestowed upon her from God. So, she says in that passage called the Magnificat, ” My soul magnifies the lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” God had accomplished something truly special with Mary and Mary gave Him the praise and the glory.

CONCLUSION: Today’s gospel describes the first anticipated Christmas party two women: one very young and the other quite old.  What was the reason for this party? Their miraculous pregnancies. In life there are no co-incidents but only ‘God-incidents’. Everything is planned, programmed and permitted by God. 

“Elizabeth was the first to hear the voice, but John was the first to experience grace. She heard according to the order of nature; he leaped because of the mystery.  She recognized the arrival of Mary; he the arrival of the Lord.  The woman recognized the woman’s arrival; the child that of the child”. St. Ambrose