December 21, 2008: Fourth Sunday in Advent. Scripture Reflection:

David’s one great wish was to build God a “house,” in other words, he wanted to be the one to build the Temple in Jerusalem. In this reading from Samuel, we see God gently remind David that it is God Who builds “houses,” and that He has, indeed, built the “house of David,” and that David’s heir, in this case Solomon will build the Temple. Solomon (Shlomo, in Hebrew) comes from the word “Shalom,” the word for peace. David had been a man of war, securing the boundaries of Israel, but God wanted His Temple built by a man of peace. And, true to his name, Solomon made treaties of peace with all the nations around him, and in so doing was worthy of building God’s “house.” In the Gospel it is to a “maiden of Nazareth,” not to a warrior, a revolutionary, or to a grand orator that God comes to “extend his spiritual House and Kingdom.” The powerless maiden will bear in her womb the Lamb of God Who will die for the world. It is to this powerlessness, St. Paul tells us, that we Gentiles are invited. May gentleness and humility carry us to the manger this year.