These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.

IV SUNDAY OF ADVENT, 20 DECEMBER: O CLAVIS DAVID (O KEY OF DAVID)

O Key of David,
 opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom: 
come and free the prisoners of darkness!

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
(Lk 1:38)

This Fourth Sunday of Advent turns our attention to the Virgin Mary and to her Fiat (her YES to God’s plan). As Saint Augustine would say of Mary: “Mary is more blest in her believing, than in her conceiving.” And as Elizabeth will say of Mary: “Blest is she who believed that the words of the Lord to her would be fulfilled” (Lk 1:45). The picture today is the Annunciation to Mary by Van Eyck. And today we have the ancient Basque Carol, The Angel Gabriel.