Vigils Reading – 4th Sunday Advent

YOU SHALL CONCEIVE AND BEAR A SON

From a commentary by St Bede the Venerable

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Today’s reading of the gospel calls to mind the beginning of our

redemption, for the passage tells us how God sent an angel from heaven to a

virgin. He was to proclaim the new birth, the incarnation of God’s Son, who

would take away our age-old guilt; through him it would be possible for us to be

made new and numbered among the children of God. And so, if we are to

deserve the gifts of the promised salvation, we must listen attentively to the

account of its beginning.

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named

Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house

of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. What is said of the house of David

applies not only to Joseph but also to Mary. It was a precept of the law that

each man should marry a wife from his own tribe and kindred. Saint Paul also

bears testimony to this when he writes to Timothy: Remember Jesus Christ,

risen from the dead, descended from David, as preached in my gospel. Our

Lord is truly descended from David, since his spotless mother took her ancestry

from David’s line.

The angel came to her and said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have

found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear

a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called

the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his

father David.” The angel refers to the kingdom of the Israelite nation as the

throne of David because in his time, by the Lord’s command and assistance,

David governed it with a spirit of faithful service. The Lord God gave to our

Redeemer the throne of his father David, when he decreed that he should

take flesh from the lineage of David. As David had once ruled the people with

temporal authority, so Christ would now lead them to the eternal kingdom by

his spiritual grace. Of this kingdom the Apostle said: He has delivered us from

the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved

Son.

He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever. The house of Jacob here

refers to the universal Church which, through its faith in and witness to Christ,

shares the heritage of the patriarchs. This may apply either to those who are

physical descendants of the patriarchal families, or to those who come from

gentile nations and are reborn in Christ by the waters of baptism. In this house

Christ shall reign for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. During this

present life, Christ rules in the Church. By faith and love he dwells in the hearts

of his elect, and guides them by his unceasing care toward their heavenly

reward. In the life to come, when their period of exile on earth is ended, he will

exercise his kingship by leading the faithful to their heavenly country. There,

for ever inspired by the vision of his presence, their one delight will be to praise

and glorify him

1 Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – NY -1993 – pg 16-17.3