As we enter the Fourth week of Advent - with Christmas only a few days away - we listen to the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Mary - that she will bear the Son of God, the Holy One of Israel - He who will take away the sins of the world. Some people would say that Jesus failed in His mission - that He did not help the Jews - the Chosen People of Israel - but as a side note - did make a difference to the gentiles of the world. As the one Jew who influenced the world more than any other person - whose act of sacrificial love - set the path for many others to follow - in particular - all the women who die in childbirth - bringing new life into the world - embodied and represented by an ordinary Italian woman - a wife - a mother - a physcian - a Catholic Christian - who proclaimed God's message of Divine Mercy - thinking not of her self - but the child due to be born - preparing herself - her family - for the Advent of New LIfe.
As Advent comes to a close and the celebration of Christmas begins - a season of - Immanuel - God With Us - may each if us prepare room in our hearts - for Christ to be born newly in each of us.
Deacon Dale
