Frederick, Maryland,
United States - Daily Mass Reading & Meditation for Tuesday, 25 March 2014
- Catholic Meditations
Meditations: 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
Do not be afraid, Mary.
(Luke 1:30)
How hard it must have
been for Mary to accept the angel’s words! First, he told her that her marriage
plans were going to change dramatically. Then, when she heard that she would
conceive a child “by the Spirit,” she must have worried that Joseph might leave
her. And if she were left pregnant with no husband, that likely meant rejection
by her townsfolk and a life of shame and hardship.
God sure knows how to
lay a heavy burden on a person, doesn’t he? Mary was left troubled, confused,
and afraid. So why was she able to say yes to the angel’s invitation? Because
Mary was full of grace.
Grace is a gift that
God has freely given to all of us. There are many kinds of grace. For example,
God gives us the grace of salvation, the grace to believe, and the grace to die
to ourselves. God gave Mary an “enabling grace,” which moved her to say, “May
it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).
This grace of God acts
like the fuel we use to make a car go. It is God’s power at work in us, both to
choose and to work “for his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). Now, even with
all the grace that God had given her, Mary still needed to take hold of it and
apply it to her life—just as a car filled with gas won’t go anywhere unless we
turn it on, put it in gear, and begin to drive.
The angel assured Mary
that nothing is “impossible for God” (Luke 1:37). Our Father can do whatever he
wants, whenever and wherever he wants. But for some reason, he prefers to do
his work in and through us. So as we celebrate this great day when Mary
submitted to God’s will, let’s make the same decision. Let’s make sure we are
open to the possibility that God may want to change some of our plans. Let’s
all say, “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your
word.”
“Holy Mary, we honor
you for the way you gave up your plans and submitted yourself to God completely.
Teach us to do the same.” Amen.
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
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