3rd Week of Advent
20th December 2023 (Wednesday) Readings and Reflection
Psalter: Week 3
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-14
In those days: The Lord spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6 (R. see 7c, 10c)
R/. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.
Alleluia
V/. Alleluia R/. Alleluia
V/. O Key of David, opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness!
R/. Alleluia
Gospel : Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month 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. And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour 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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Daily Gospel Reflection
The Reflection by Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy MSFS{alertWarning}
Highlight: If only we cooperate!
Guidlines: Miracles happen when there is a combination of God’s grace and action and human reception and cooperation{alertSuccess}
1. God sends His angel to Mary with His plan of incarnation for salvation. He seeks and awaits her approval. This is precisely the nobility and magnanimity of God: Even though He can do very well without us, He wants to involve us and wants us to be His collaborators and sharers. It is only because He loves us. True love values others and respects each person’s dignity and honour.
2. How noble and magnanimous we are, being His children? How much do we see all others as persons of dignity and respectability? How much do we treat others with respect? How often and how easily do we despise others, showing false greatness and sticking to our own ideas, opinions, and prejudices?
3. Then from the part of Mary, what humility, docility, and surrender to God’s grace and plan! What humility! She does not get puffed up that God Himself is standing at His door for her approval. She does not forget her finitude as a creature before God’s infinity. In all humility, she is aware that the offer of her divine maternity is not her merit or greatness but God’s love and care.
4. What docility! She does not contest, argue, reject or doubt God’s plan. Even her question, “How it is possible to bear a son without rapport with her spouse” is a quite normal and legitimate question expected from a simple teenage girl, brought up in faith and morals.
5. Perhaps bearing children outside the marital bond may not be a big issue for many in our modern society. But for her society and tradition, certainly, it was a matter of immorality and infidelity. But in her docility, she risked being labelled immoral and unfaithful. For her, what mattered the most was God’s plan and salvation of all, and not her human thinking and reputation.
6. Then what surrender!: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord! Be it done unto me according to your word!” Often we are so accustomed to these words of Mary that we take for granted and take light the immensity of Mary’s act of acceptance.
7. It needed the guts of the spirit to utter such words of total surrender. What surrender! She has no discussion, no conditions, and no suggestions. She does not clarify how God would safeguard her reputation, or how God would let others know about her virginity and innocence despite conception.
8. She does not request God at least to convince her spouse. She is not much worried about the myriads of uncertainties and risks that await her. Her only concern was to do God’s will and an unconditional ‘Yes’ to God’s will.
9. Now it is not enough to admire Mary for her humility, docility, and surrender. What about our humility, docility, and surrender? A little talent, a little capacity, a little money, a little position, how much we become arrogant? Even concerning spiritual gifts, how easily do we succumb to the feeling that I am better than others, I am greater than others?
10. How docile we are? Even though many times God proposes, inspires, advises, and admonishes many things, how much we can be obstinate and fixated, clinging to our own ideas and calculations? Do we give more importance to our human intelligence, reasoning, and decisions, rather than God’s wisdom and promptings? Do we know better than God? Can we do better than God?
11. How often do we lack the spirit of surrender? We try to convince God that it is not right and possible to do His will. We have a hundred and one reasons to explain and justify why we cannot surrender to God’s ways.
12. We fail to surrender only because self-interests become the centre of our whole thinking and not God’s will and the good of others. We may allow ourselves to be carried away by what is false, what is ignominious, what is unjust, what is impure, what is inaffable, what is dishonourable, what is vice and harmful.
Practice: Today let us pray that we may become more and more humble, docile, and surrendered like Mary because only thus, we can receive the Savior and experience his saving touch.{alertSuccess}