4C ADVENT SUNDAY HOMILY, LUKE 1:39-45, December 22, 2024
1. STORY
Mary was an
unhappy young woman mainly due to pressure at work. To relax, she enjoyed running in the park. One day, when she was very unhappy while
running in the park, an elderly man whom she often saw walking there said to
her, “You are very good, you are very fast.” Though she knew that she was not very good or
fast in running, the compliment, that word of praise, lifted up her spirits. She felt a lot better and was determined to
keep up this habit. A word of praise is
very important.
2. GOSPEL, LUKE
1:39-45
A. MARY VISITS
ELIZABETH
Mary did three
things when she visited her cousin, Elizabeth.
i) She showed
concern for Elizabeth by making the long journey to see her.
ii) She brought
joy to Elizabeth as “The infant in her womb leaped for joy.”
iii) Mary was a model of faith as “She believed what was spoken to her.”
B. ELIZABETH
PRAISES MARY
Elizabeth praised
Mary three times. “Blessed are you among
women, blessed is the fruit of your womb, and blessed are you who believed.”
3. APPLICATION TO
LIFE
A. WHO NEEDS TO
BE PRAISED
There are many people who are unhappy, sad and hopeless and seeing no reason for living, they want to quit their journey. These and many others can be helped by a word of praise.
B. PRAISE GOD
God does not need our praise, but we need to praise God for his greatness, goodness, and kindness. We praise God in our prayers such as in the prayer “Glory be to God.” We praise God at each Mass we attend.
C. PRAISE PEOPLE
We are all
children of God. We all have good points
and we also have bad points. We make an
effort to see the good points in others. We praise them by saying “good or very good.” We say “congratulations or well done.” We say “I appreciate your effort, or you have
improved a great deal.” Such actions on
our part bring joy and happiness to others. A little effort on our part brings hope and
strength to others. It is better to
praise than to criticize.
4. CONCLUSION
The unhappy young
woman was helped by the word of praise given to her by the elderly man. Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth to show
concern for her cousin. Elizabeth
praised Mary for being chosen to be God’s mother, for bearing Christ, and for
her great faith. We have the ability and
responsibility to praise God our creator. Though God does not need our praise, we need
to praise God. We have the opportunity
and power to praise others. Just saying
“well done” makes people happy. We thank
Jesus for his instruction and ask him to help us praise God and people. It is better to praise people than to
criticize them.
