The Word of God
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him 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 ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to 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 holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.
Luke 1:26-38
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- Like Mary, I too came into the world for a purpose. That purpose will not be revealed to me as dramatically as it was to her. Perhaps she heard the word of God so clearly because she was comfortable with silence.
- Too often I fear the emptiness, the darkness, the silence within me. Yet it is there that the Spirit lives and works, even when my prayer seems most arid. God, help me to go daily into the quiet of my own heart, to meet you there, in love and adoration.
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- Nothing is impossible to God! Mary needed to hear this in order to give her Yes to the will of God. We too need reminding of this.
- Sometimes it is easy to forget that Mary was a very ordinary girl at the time of the angel Gabriel visiting her. How must she have felt upon hearing what was to take place? Here I am, this Advent, a servant before the Lord. God is waiting for my response. What do I reply?
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- In our imagination lets us join in this scene, as great painters like Fra Angelico did : I call in on Mary one morning and she welcomes me. We chat: then a profound silence falls and I become aware that someone else is invisibly present and speaking with her. I hear what is said as coming from a mysterious and holy place. I notice that Mary is confused by being called ‘favoured and gifted lady’. But she is told not to be afraid, and I see her becoming calm again. Then the angel-presence promises her that she will bear a son by the power of the Holy Spirit: a son so great that he will be called Son of God.
- I listen and gasp: all this is impossible to me: I wonder am I dreaming? But I watch Mary: she is silent for what seems an eternity; then she smiles and says ‘Yes!’
- I savour this extraordinary moment in which the plans of God for the saving of the world get under way. I marvel at God’s choice of Mary, who is young, poor, female, unattached, powerless-a nobody. And I talk with Mary, thanking her for her generosity in putting her life totally at God’s disposal. I ask that God’s quiet and undramatic annunciations to me may find an equally generous response.
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- It is doubtful if, even after these explanations, Mary really understood the implications of what she had been told. But she recognised the messenger as coming from God and, in deep faith and trust, accepted what she was being asked to do and be.
- Mary said ‘yes’ in the little house in Nazareth. It was a historic moment in the world’s history. Things would never be the same again. Let us thank Mary today for her unconditional ‘yes’ and ask her to help us to say our ‘yes’ to God today.
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- Let us consider today that, long before we were born, we are called by God to know, love and serve him. We have been the constant recipients of his blessings. Do we notice these in our daily lives? Do we take time to listen the still small voice of God in our day?
- Mary was listening. She heard the message of the angel and responded with an unconditional ‘yes’. We also can become filled with grace if, like her, we listen and respond with a resounding and unconditional ‘yes’ to all that God wants from us.
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- For four hundred years, the so-called ‘Silent Years’, the voice of the prophets had been silent in Israel. Fifteen hundred years of communication from God to man through the scriptures seemed to have ended with the book of Malachi, the final book of the Old Testament. Now, that silence is shattered for ever, in an obscure village in Galilee.
- Lord, when the silence seems heavy and impenetrable, I recall how it can be broken at the most unexpected time and in the most unexpected circumstances. Like Mary, I must be still enough to hear the voice; courageous enough to act on it.
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- The Annunciation to Mary begins our immediate preparation for the coming of Jesus among us. There was fear at the surprising call, leading to a question of how this can happen. Then there was a sign in that Elizabeth is expecting a child before Mary said ‘yes.’ She did not say “ok, I will do it”, but “let it be with me according to your word.” It was ‘yes’ to a way of life, a ‘yes’ to the Word of God, leaving the initiative with God.
- Surprising calls can evoke fears and questioning, leading to a desire for a sign before saying yes. Have I been through that experience? In my prayer I ask for Mary’s freedom and openness to God’s surprising ways? Could my fears get in the way of a generous response to God?
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- Our Lady’s role in the history of salvation is unique. The same is true, however, for each one of us in a smaller scale. The Lord is with each of us and we have found favour with God and he has a mission for us to fulfil.
- Our Lady is the supreme example of obedience to the will of God. The primary meaning of each day of our lives is to say with her , "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- Theologians constructed a theory of original sin, and another theory to explain how Mary was exempt from the curse of Adam -- the Immaculate Conception. In prayer I'd rather remember the old Irish poem:
- Queen of all queens, oh wonder of the loveliness of women, Heart which hath held in check for us the righteous wrath of God; Strong staff of light and fosterer of the Bright Child of heaven, Pray thou for us as we now pray that we may be forgiven.
- Repeating a phrase in prayer may make it go deep within us. It's like a favourite piece of music which we can hum over and over again. It is part of us. 'I am the servant of the Lord' was such a phrase for Mary, spoken first at one of the biggest moments in her life. In dry times of prayer, a sentence like that can occupy mind and heart and raise us close to God.
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- Mary, the young girl of no status, from the village of Nazareth, an utterly insignificant place is signaled out, called, chosen, and overshadowed with God’s Spirit. Her response moves from one of fear to total trust in God’s inscrutable designs.
- “Mary has always been proposed to the faithful by the church as an example to be imitated, not precisely in the type of life that she led and much less for the sociocultural background in which she lived and which scarcely today exists anywhere today. Rather she is held up as an example to the faithful for the way in which in her own particular life she fully and responsibly accepted the word of God and acted on it, and because charity and the spirit of service were the driving force of her actions. She is worthy of imitation because she was the first and most perfect of Christ’s disciples”. (Pope Paul VI)
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- The angel said to Mary, ‘You will conceive and bear a son,’ not ‘Are you willing to conceive and bear a son?’ That is how God’s will comes to us; in the things that happen to us; more than in the things we choose!
- Nothing is impossible to God! In difficult times, it is good to remember that God is fully in charge of our world. Everything happens according to his plan. There is always hope.
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- “Rejoice, so highly favoured. The Lord is with you.” Mary, the young girl of no status, from the village of Nazareth, an utterly insignificant place is signaled out, called, chosen, and overshadowed with God’s Spirit. A unique gift, a “cause of our joy.”
- “Do not be afraid” - words for you too. Much to make you afraid. But the Lord has promised to be with you always to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20)
- “And his reign will have no end.” Might Mary have recalled these words as she stood before her dying Son?
- “Here I am...”Help me, Lord, to do your will as Mary did, docile to your teaching.
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- Scripture leaves us in no doubt about God being a long-range planner - he can determine a whole series of events to come to maturity in his own good time. In fact, he has done this for the benefit of us all – planning, even before the beginning of the world, for us to become sisters and brothers of Jesus.
- For the grand plan to come to completion, the cooperation of Mary was needed. And that is why the devotion of the faithful has long believed that Mary had to be specially privileged - namely, through being herself exempted from any touch of inherited sin.
- The Gospel writer here attempts a ‘close up’ of Mary’s epoch-making moment – as she offers her acceptance of God’s plan for her to be the mother of Jesus. She gets reassurance in answer to a query - the Holy Spirit will come upon her, and the power of the Most High will over-shadow her.
- But many a prophet quailed before the image of an angel arriving to call him to his particular role. Perhaps Mary is helped to ‘pull herself together’ by the news that even the aged Elizabeth has been favoured with a child - Mary then knows that the Lord has begun to take a hand not just in her own life, but in the course of events in the world as a whole.
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- For Mary the angel’s message is a blessing; but very much a blessing in disguise. It is placing her in a very difficult position, socially, culturally, religiously, personally. She has to trust this interior movement in her heart and ‘go with it’. And she does.
- In our lives too there are turning points where we may experience an invitation to embrace something difficult rather than discard it. Something which wrecks our dream for ourselves or for our loved ones. There’s a need to discern the spirits.
- Is there release from something into another way of being: more open, more generous, more humble, deeper service of Christ Jesus.
- If it is disconcerting that does not mean that it is bad. What response would your better self give?
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- This scene is an image of what true prayer is about. God comes to visit me through a messenger – a line from scripture, an event, a memory. I entertain God! God takes the initiative, and greets me, surprisingly as ‘the favoured one’. What does it feel like to be God’s favourite?
- God has something in mind for me to do; like Mary I am to bear good news to others, and the Holy Spirit will help me. God waits for my response. If I say ‘Yes!’ the work of God in our world will be brought forward. Like her I dare to say, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ It is all so simple and yet so awesome.
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- Mary, the young girl of no status, from the village of Nazareth, an utterly insignificant place is signaled out, called, chosen, and overshadowed with God’s Spirit. Her response moves from one of fear to total trust in God’s inscrutable designs.
- Lord, may I grow each day in trusting your amazing annunciation to me: “I am your highly favoured one” I am not to be afraid. You rejoice in me! In the ‘busyness’ of life, keep these thoughts before me. Like Mary, may I too be ready to play my part in bringing you to birth.
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- Like Mary, I too came into the world for a purpose. That purpose will not be revealed to me as dramatically as it was to her. Perhaps she heard the word of God so clearly because she was comfortable with silence.
- Too often I fear the emptiness, the darkness, the silence within me. Yet it is there that the Spirit lives and works, even when my prayer seems most arid. God, help me to go daily into the quiet of my own heart, to meet you there, in love and adoration.
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- As I look at this familiar scene, the question hits me: How do I react in a crisis? How does Mary? She is not flattered but perplexed, and she voices her perplexity. She hears God’s messenger but wonders can this be true? How does it square with my virginity? She knows that she is free to say Yes or No. She ponders the invitation in her heart, as she ponders later events in the life of her son. Then her response is from a full heart.
- Seat of Wisdom, teach me how to use my head and heart in a crisis.
Some thoughts on today's scripture
ActiveDefault- When a woman in the crowd cried to Jesus: Blessed is the womb that bore you, he replied, Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it. First of these was his mother, who said Let it be with me according to your word. We remember her words whenever we pray the Angelus.
- Lord, this is not an easy prayer to make. You prayed it yourself in Gethsemane in a sweat of blood: Not my will but yours be done. Help me to make it the pattern of my life. What issues of surrender and trust does it raise for me?