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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

This Sunday, the Roman Missal provides us with a wonderful Entrance Antiphon, commonly known by its Latin beginning: Rorate Caeli. The text is taken from Isaiah: "Drop down dew from above, you heavens, and let the clouds rain down the Just One; let the earth be opened and bring forth a Saviour." The reference to dew takes us back to the Book of Exodus, where we find the manna that fed the people, falling like dew from heaven. As we read these texts, we can see a prophetic reference to the Eucharist, the Bread of Life who gives Himself to us in the Eucharist. Eucharistic Prayer II picks up this theme: it speaks of the Holy Spirit coming “like the dewfall” upon the gifts that have been offered, that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord.

The Word Made Flesh comes to us in mystery, in gentleness. We see this in this Sunday’s Gospel as the Angel Gabriel visits Mary and tells her that she is to be the mother of the Saviour. Mary does not understand the implications of this visit – but she accepts. Her fiat – her "yes" – is the model for our own welcoming of the Lord.

St Cyril of Jerusalem, in the 4th century, wrote of the Lord's coming in two ways: at His birth and at the end of time. Picking up the theme of dewfall, he wrote that the first coming of Jesus was “unperceived, like the dew falling on the fleece.” The second coming we await, but it will not be a coming that is hidden away, quietly, in the cave of Bethlehem – the house of bread. This second coming will take place “before the eyes of all.”

Mary’s response to Gabriel is our model for both these two comings of Jesus. We rejoice at the celebration of His birth. We celebrate it. Living lives, as Mary did, of openness to the Lord’s call to us – which will include times of difficulty, since we must take up the cross and follow Him – will make us ready to say “yes” once again. “Yes, Lord, I am here, waiting for You, the Master, to return.”

Let us prepare this Advent to rejoice at our celebration of the Word Made Flesh and, through lives lived in saying “yes” to Him, be ready when He comes again.

With every blessing,

+Richard

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