FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT: YOU ARE MIGHTIER THAN YOU

READINGS: FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

The first reading on this 4th Sunday of Advent, Year C, begins with this statement: “You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel” (Micah 5:2).” For the Israelites, Bethlehem was a town too small to be counted among the cities of Judah, but for God, it was the town that would produce a king. This recalls the story of when God sent Samuel to go and anoint one of the sons of Jesse as king, and all his big and handsome sons came out. None was chosen but the little shepherd boy who was in the field with the sheep, whom everybody thought was nobody, and yet, Samuel, instructed by God, had this to say: “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives,” (1 Sam 16:11). It also brings to mind, the story in the Book of Judges, where an angel of the Lord called upon Gideon to rise up and deliver the Israelites from the hand of the Midianites, and Gideon responded, “My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family,” and the angel responded, “You are a mighty warrior. Go in the strength you have and save Israel.” (Cf. Judges 6:1-11).

My friends, it is not about who people think we are but who God knows us to be. We often tend to care more about what people think of us than what God thinks of us. Truthfully, we are not what others think we are; we are what God knows us to be. What God knows us to be is that we are wired with the ability and inner strength to do great things, to stand firm in the face of opposition, to call forth the David within us in the face of life Goliaths, to go further than we thought we could, and to live a life beyond our perceived limits. When we focus on what others think of us, we risk not becoming who God knows us to be and who God wants us to be. Focusing on what others think of us can box us into the corner of their judgment, only for us to, consciously or unconsciously, act and behave in ways that line with their prejudice, and like Gideon, begin to look down on ourselves, doubt our own abilities, and possibly end up living a life that we were not created to live. No wonder Scripture says, “It is dangerous to be concerned with what others think of you” (Proverb 29:25). Using the opinions of others as the measuring stick of our worth is always a losing battle. We would never please God nor maximize our potential if we were disgusted with the person looking back at us in the mirror.

God thinks good thoughts about us, so let us also think good thoughts about ourselves. We should never look down on ourselves, no matter where we come from, who we are, our profession, or our imperfections. Someone always looks up to us to be great—God, our creator. We know that beliefs are compelling because beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy. So, we should always believe in ourselves, acknowledge that we are endowed and capable of bringing us to our destiny, and stand with St. Paul when he says, “I am who I am by the grace of God.” We also need to remember that because we are who we are by the grace of God, other people are who they are by the grace of God. We, therefore, should never look down on anyone because only God sits high enough to do so