Daily Gospel for Tuesday,
25 March 2014
"Simon Peter
answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal
life." John 6:68
The Annunciation of the
Lord - Solemnity
Saints of the Day:
Omeljan Kovč
Priest and Martyr
(1884-1944)
Blessed Emilian Kovch
was born on 20 August 1884, near Kosiv. In 1911, after graduating from the
College of Sts Sergius and Bacchus in Rome, he was ordained to the priesthood.
In the spring of 1943,
he was arrested by the Gestapo for aiding Jews. On 25 March 1944 he was burned
to death in the ovens of the Majdanek Nazi death camp.
On September 9, 1999 he
was honoured with the title "Righteous Ukrainian" by the Jewish
Council of Ukraine. He was beatified by John-Paul II on June 2001. - Copyright
© Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Saint Dismas
Feastday: March 25
All that is known of
Dismas is that he is the Good Thief crucified with Christ on Calvary. The other
thief is known as Gestas. A completely unsubstantiated myth from the Arabic
Gospel of the Infancy that enjoyed great popularity in the West during the
Middle Ages had two thieves who held up the Holy Family on the way to Egypt.
Dismas bought off Gestas with forty drachmas to leave them unmolested,
whereupon the Infant predicted that they would be crucified with Him in
Jerusalem, and that Dismas would accompany Him to Paradise. His feast day is
March 25th.
The Annunciation of the
Lord - Solemnity
Isaiah 7: 10 Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a
sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I
will not ask, neither will I tempt Yahweh.”
13 He said, “Listen
now, house of David. Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that
you will try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will
give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall
call his name Immanuel.[a]
Footnotes:
a. Isaiah 7:14
“Immanuel” means “God with us”.
Isaiah 8:10 Take
counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it
will not stand: for God is with us.”
Psalm 40:7:1 Then I
said, “Behold, I have come.
It is written about me in the book in the
scroll.
8 I delight to do your
will, my God.
Yes, your law is within my heart.”
9 I have proclaimed
glad news of righteousness in the great assembly.
Behold, I will not seal my lips, Yahweh,
you know.
10 I have not hidden
your righteousness within my heart.
I have declared your faithfulness and your
salvation.
I have not concealed your loving kindness
and your truth from the great assembly.
11 Don’t withhold your
tender mercies from me, Yahweh.
Let your loving kindness and your truth
continually preserve me.
Hebrews 10:4 For it is
impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. 5 Therefore
when he comes into the world, he says,
“Sacrifice and offering
you didn’t desire,
but you prepared a body for me.
6 You had no pleasure
in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (in the
scroll of the book it is written of me)
to do your will, O God.’”[a]
8 Previously saying,
“Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you
didn’t desire, neither had pleasure in them” (those which are offered according
to the law), 9 then he has said, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He
takes away the first, that he may establish the second, 10 by which will we
have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all.
Footnotes:
a. Hebrews 10:7 Psalm
40:6-8
Holy Gospel of Jesus
Christ according to Saint Luke 1: 26 Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city
of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose
name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 Having come
in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with
you. Blessed are you among women!”
29 But when she saw
him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of
salutation this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for
you have found favor with God. 31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and
give birth to a son, and will call his name ‘Jesus.’ 32 He will be great, and
will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne
of his father, David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
There will be no end to his Kingdom.”
34 Mary said to the
angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered
her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called
the Son of God. 36 Behold, Elizabeth, your relative, also has conceived a son
in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37
For nothing spoken by God is impossible.”[a]
38 Mary said, “Behold,
the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.”
The angel departed from
her.
Footnotes:
a. Luke 1:37 or, “For
everything spoken by God is possible.”
The Annunciation of the
Lord - Solemnity
Commentary for Today:
Saint John Damascene (c.675-749), monk, theologian, Doctor of the Church
Homily on the Nativity of the Virgin, § 9 ; SC 80
"Hail, full of grace!"
This woman will be the Mother of God, the door to light, source of life;
she will reduce to oblivion the judgement that weighed on Eve. “The rich among
the people seek the face” of this woman, “the kings of the nations shall pay
her homage”, they shall “offer gifts”..., yet the glory of the Mother of God is
an interior glory: the fruit of her womb.
O woman, so worthy of love, thrice happy, “blessed are you among women and
blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Daughter of David the king and Mother of
God, King of the universe, masterpiece in whom the Creator rejoices...: you are
to be nature's full achievement. For you life is not yours; you were not born
for yourself alone; but your life is to be God's. You came into the world for
him, you will serve for the salvation of all people, fulfilling God's design
established from the beginning: the incarnation of the Word and our own
divinization. Your whole desire is to feed on the words of God, to be
strengthened by their sap, like “a green olive tree in the house of God”, “like
a tree planted by running water”, you are the “tree of life” who “yielded its
fruit in due season”...
He who is infinite, limitless, came to dwell in your womb; God, the child
Jesus, was nourished by your milk. You are the ever virginal doorway of God;
your hands hold your God; your lap is a throne raised up above the cherubim...
You are the wedding chamber of the Spirit, the “city of the living God,
gladdened by the runlets of the stream”, that is to say the waves of the
Spirit's gifts. You are “all fair, the Beloved” of God.
( Biblical references : Ps 44[45],13; 71[72],11.10; Mt 2,11; Lk 1,42; Is
62,5; Ps 51[52],10; 1,3; cf Gn 2,9, Rv 22,2; cf Ez 44,2; Ps 79[80],2; cf Sg
1,4; Ps 45[46],5; Sg 4,7)
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