Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Michael Simone, S.J.December 01, 2017

Longing is the heartbeat of Scripture. Echoes of the cry, “Ad-anah, Adonai?” (“How long, O Lord?”) appear on the lips of kings and prophets, apostles and visionaries, Jews and Christians—individuals from every generation of God’s people. Sometimes their cry was personal: “How long must I carry sorrow in my soul?” (Ps 13:3). Sometimes the cry was social: “How long, O Lord...for the wicked surround the just; this is why justice comes forth perverted” (Hab 1:4). Sometimes it was apocalyptic, “How long, O Sovereign Lord, before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood?” (Rev 6:10).

She was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. (Lk 1:29)

Liturgical day
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Readings
2 Sm 7:1-16, Ps 89, Rom 16:25-27, Lk 1:28-38
Prayer

What are you waiting for?

How will you recognize it when you receive it?

One should never forget that this yearning lies behind so many biblical texts. It colors the passages we read today. The author of the first reading and of the responsorial psalm, writing at a time when David’s house had fallen, reminds Israel (and perhaps Israel’s God as well) of an ancient promise: “Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever.” During a time of conquest and exile, these words kept alive a spark of desire in Israel’s heart, a spark that grew into the brilliance of second-temple Judaism and messianic expectation. St. Paul, concluding his letter to the Jewish-Christian community in Rome, reminds them how long they had waited for God to reveal the “mystery kept secret for long ages,” which was now to be made known throughout the world.

This same longing influenced Palestinian Judaism in the time of Jesus. He and his mother would have encountered it not just explicitly in their daily prayers, but implicitly in the social anxiety, economic uncertainty, civil unrest and cultural antagonism of Jewish life under Roman rule. Jesus and his mother, along with their family and neighbors, felt a yearning for God’s saving action that might be difficult to understand today.

The ancient religion of Israel had splintered, however, and the fulfillment of this yearning was a matter of great disagreement. Sadducees, Samaritans, Pharisees, Essenes and Zealots each longed for a different future and awaited a different salvation. Most people were not allied with any of these parties and heard only confusion in these discordant voices. Everyone was aware of wanting something, but most did not know what to want.

Mary somehow could still sift through the noise and hear the voice of God. She recognized intuitively that God’s longed-for salvation was beginning and that she would have a mission in its fulfillment. Her famous question, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” is more about clarity than confidence: How exactly is God going to get this done? At some point in this dialogue, Mary realized that Gabriel’s message was what she had been praying for all her life. At that moment, divine grace led her mind to understand that a mysterious and illicit pregnancy was the fulfillment of her prayers.

We too must be equally ready for an answer to our prayers. Whether we pray for ourselves or for others, all of us have longings we bring to Christ. As we complete our journey to his crib, let us trust the same grace that enlightened Mary so that we can recognize the fulfillment of those prayers.

The latest from america

March 30, 2025, the Fourth Sunday of Lent: Jesus’ parable in Luke’s Gospel masterfully illustrates three characters, the father and two sons, each of whom provides an insight on the human condition.
Victor Cancino, S.J.March 26, 2025
March 23, 2025, the Third Sunday of Lent: On this third Sunday of Lent, we are invited to become aware of God’s presence through living things like bushes and fig trees as well as in the contradictions that reveal divine mystery.
Victor Cancino, S.J.March 19, 2025
March 16, 2025, the Second Sunday of Lent: For the second Sunday of Lent, the readings remind us that God has renewed the covenant repeatedly throughout history.
Victor Cancino, S.J.March 11, 2025
March 9, 2025, the First Sunday of Lent: Thinking of Lent as a pilgrimage has the potential to be a helpful way to begin our reflection for this Sunday’s readings.
Victor Cancino, S.J.March 05, 2025