Isaiah 7:10-14
...“Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God... “I will not
ask! I will not tempt the LORD!”...the Lord himself will give you this sign the
virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel
We need to persevere in prayer so that as we improve and
daily grow in His knowledge and ways then we can easily discern and be more
sensitive of how God speaks to each one of us in a very close and personal way.
We should always listen intently to what God is telling us so we could
effectively carry out what He wants us to do. It is God's will that we engage
in activities that will enrich and deepen our faith in Him. In order to love
someone better we have to know him/her better. The more you know about a person
the more you become close to each other. The same way with God there is a need
to really know more or everything there is to know about God. We must not be
distracted and dissuaded to do otherwise when beset with problems and
difficulties. If we have developed a great sense of confidence and faith in our
Lord Jesus Christ then we can fearlessly and undauntedly do whatever He wills
for us. We've got the very best friend we can ever have in Jesus. All we have
to do is listen to and follow Him. He is the Rising Sun and Light of the world
who came to live with us to direct our feet into the path of peace. Once we've
known who God really is and what He is capable of doing in our lives then
nothing should stand in our way of doing God's will. It may not be easy but if
we have placed it in the center of our hearts then it will just come naturally
as it becomes the powerhouse or mitochondria of our beings. The transcendent
nature of humanity calls for dialogue and human understanding. In the face of
difficulty and sign of contradiction we should never lose heart. Remember these
words from the gospel, Mt. 5:10-12, “Blessed are they who are persecuted for
the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you
when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you
(falsely) because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in
heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Violence is not
overcome by violence. The world needs God. Authentic weapon for peace is
religious freedom as in to practice faith without coercion. Today we remember
the plight of our brothers and sisters throughout the world who suffer greatly
for the faith. We pray that religious freedom will not be eroded for those who
can practice it. We continue to hope in the grace of God for that alone will
suffice. It is also very important that we follow the example of Mary's perfect
obedience to God's will so that we can find delight in following God's laws.
May our Lord show us the path to peace and use us as instruments and builders
of peace. Nothing should ever stop us from doing the will of God for it is
ultimately the best option we've got. If we have developed a great sense of
confidence and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ then we can fearlessly and
undauntedly do whatever He wills for us. Once we've known who God is and what
He is capable of doing in our lives then there is really nothing that should
stop us in saying with all our hearts the responsorial psalm for today. Amen.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 40:7-8, 8-9, 10, 11
R: Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
6 [7] Sacrifice or oblation you wished not, but ears open to
obedience you gave me. Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not; 7 [8]
then said I, “Behold I come.” (R) In the written scroll it is prescribed for
me, 8 [9] to do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my
heart!” (R) 9 [10] I announced your
justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
Sometimes we are confronted with situations that make life
difficult for us but what's most important despite the hardships, discomforts,
hurts and inconveniences that we encounter is our sincere desire and intention
to please God above all and submit to His Holy will. We should always be
confident in the truth that God's will in our lives will always work out for
our own good. Everything depends on our will if and only if we could assimilate
this will to God's. In the midst of all these celebrations in line with lent may we not forget the real reason for the season. We should look beyond the
superficial and know what's most pleasing to God is the genuine desire to respond to God's call in our hearts as we submit to the will of God. Amen.
Hallelujah!
5 Brothers and sisters: When Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight in...Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second. 10 By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Among all of God's creation, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the
best and most perfect work of God's hands. For through her cooperation with
God, salvation of mankind was made possible. Mary never doubted God's mercy and
goodness to carry out His plan for she trusted God more than anything else. We
should always be confident in the truth that God's will in our lives will
always work out for our own good. Whenever we feel afraid let us always follow
the example of Mary. No matter how bothering the news or instances that are
happening before us we should always maintain the same total surrender and
trusting attitude of our Blessed Mother. Just like Mary who agreed to conceive
and give birth to Jesus we should also openly and freely accept Jesus in our
lives. We should always follow after her example of a perfect handmaid of the
Lord. We are destined for the Lord just like Mary, all we have to do is follow
the example she set before us from today's gospel. The example of Mary's
complete obedience and trust in God should compel us to do likewise and believe
in the fulfillment of God's promises in our lives no matter how impossible and
difficult it may seem. During the time of Mary, she knew perfectly well the
implications of her total surrender to God in agreeing to become pregnant could
make her the object of ridicule and can lead to a very humiliating and life
threatening situation but despite all of these she consented willingly and
obediently. We, too can learn a lot from her and not miss out on the glorious
reward that the Blessed Mother is bestowed now in heaven and for all
generations to come. Mary was predestined to take on this special role to be
Mother of God. It wasn't easy for her during that time for she was still bound
by human laws which meant being stoned to death if found pregnant out of
wedlock. But she thought of accepting the will of God in her life first and
foremost by consenting to God's word like a handmaid would do to her Master and
God. We are also invited through our daily circumstances to live out the will
of God in our lives against all odds. May we also have the courage to say the
words that Mary said whenever we are confronted with situations in our life
that calls us to carry out God's will rather than our own. May we find in our
hearts doing God's will at every moment of our life and truly make it our own.
God's and our own wills as one. We all have plans in life but as the scripture
in Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the
decision of the Lord that endures.” Mary knew of this and though she may have
other plans for her life back then already betrothed to Joseph, she did not hesitate
and accepted the will of God in her life and the rest is history. History that
is forever etched in the pages of the bible, every kind of reading material and
most especially in the heart, mind and soul of every Christian. The greatest
miracle is the birth of our Lord Jesus made possible through the obedience and
cooperation of our Blessed Mother Mary. May we in our total surrender to God's
will become a vessel of the birth of our own miracles. God coming to us in the
form of man is a truth so great and awesome that no one can fully understand
all the mysteries that surround it. Even the Blessed Mother who was favored by
God and given this great privilege of giving birth to Jesus, our Savior was
troubled. Because of our probing minds we tend to question a lot of things and
resort to various ways in order to get a better view and understanding of
things but there are times, too when all we have to do is follow the example of
Mama Mary's perfect obedience to the will of God. There is only one thing we need
to know, meditate and internalize daily, that God loves us this much, He
suffered His only Son to become man and die on the cross for us. From this
standpoint I am sure that all other things will follow. There are famous
stories that are very wonderful to tell that it continue to be spoken of
throughout the length of time. It has been passed on from generation to
generation and never lose the awe, wonder and mystery it holds for those who
come to know it. There are some that never leave our memory and continue to
inspire and give us hope. It serves as a driving force that keeps us going and
lifts us up when we are down and out. These stories are a source of strength
and courage at times when we feel like giving up. The story of how God came to
save us. This is one story that we should take personally. It should never
leave our hearts, minds and memories every waking moment of our lives. It is
the greatest story, living and true, ever told. On the day that the angel
appeared to Mary she may have already been praying for a Savior to come. We all
have been praying to God for something. Let us not doubt that God answers all
our prayers in the best way possible. We should not waver or falter and have
faith in God who knows our past, present and future. He can make all things
beautiful in His perfect time that is for sure. There is no question to this,
God is moving in power. Everything lies in the hands of God but it is in our
hands to respond in the way Mary did and say this to God with all humility and
trust, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according
to your word.” St. Anselm brilliantly captures the crucial role of Mary in our
salvation history. He said, “God... is the Father of the created world and Mary
the mother of the re-created world. God is the Father by whom all things were
given life, and Mary the mother through whom all things were given new life.
For God begot the Son, through whom all things were made, and Mary gave birth
to him as the Savior of the world. Without God’s Son, nothing could exist;
without Mary’s Son, nothing could be redeemed.” This is an incredible thing. It
was only possible because God became man. There is an interplay between God’s
grace and Mary’s free acceptance. This is what the real Catholic life is all
about. This is God’s desire for us which
is a fantastic calling. The power to do this is given to us by God in Jesus
through Mary. Let us no longer be tricked into believing otherwise and know
that just like Mary we are also called to play our part in the history of
salvation the way she did. The wonderful phrase from the lips of the angel is
pregnant with meaning as He announces to Mary she is full of grace. When
something is full there is no room for anything else just like a glass there’s
a limit to what it can hold. When the angel announced the words in the present
tense by saying you are full of grace. She has no room for sin and is where the
Church got its dogma that Mary is conceived without sin. The angel could have
said, hail who will be full of grace. She is already filled with the grace of
God, special grace from God and for God so He can do His work. God made Mary
the untainted human nature and spotless. There's this painting of the
Annunciation where the angel is hovering over Mary with a ray coming from his
mouth to Mary’s ear. Though, this is not a literal depiction of the Incarnation
but a metaphor. The angel spoke the Word of God because the angel can only
speak the word of God and this painting is a beautiful depiction of what
happened in the annunciation. Jesus conceived in her womb without the
assistance of husband or father but with the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary
hearing the Word and accepts the Word became flesh. We also hear the Word and
must accept that the bread and wine in Holy Mass is transformed in the Body
& Blood in the Eucharist. We celebrate this when we pray the Hail Mary
which is recorded by St. Luke spoken by the angel and also taken out from the
words of St. Elizabeth inspired by the Holy Spirit. This is a prayer that we
should say often each day. Mary is a part of what she heard, accepted and said
yes. Eve was also created holy and in innocence. Eve and Mary are two innocent
women created by God. Lucifer tempted and spoke a lie to Eve. The devil starts
off by telling a lie while Mary is greeted by an angelic being speaking the
truth. Eve gives in to the devil's allurement. At first Eve spoke the truth
when the devil said in Gen 3:1-3, "Did God really tell you not to eat from
any of the trees in the garden?" The woman answered the serpent: "We
may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of
the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, 'You shall not eat it or
even touch it, lest you die.'" but Eve was allured and gave in. Mary on
the other hand when greeted by the angel, instead of propping herself up like
God she said I am the handmaid of the Lord and said yes and her womb became
God’s dwelling place. Eve is the mother of the living while Mary is our
spiritual mother. In the beginning humanity fell flat on his face when Adam
& Eve sinned so we needed a Redeemer. We should remember these words in Gen
3:14, "Then the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done
this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures;
On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your
life. These are the words we should say to the devil every time we are tempted.
Following that, is Gen 3:15, "I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you
strike at his heel." We know that
the woman spoken of is Mary, the New Eve, Mary crushes the serpent’s head by
her Son and defeat the devil once and for all. Lucifer’s no to God made him
lose heaven. God breaks into human history and becomes one of us, wanting to be
like us, as true God and true Man, filled with divinity and humanity. This is a
glorious day as we celebrate the Annunciation and every time we pray the Hail
Mary. We should say it with love and not embarrassed. When we speak of
something important we say it with intention, deliberation and reverence. We
ought to keep this in mind that the Hail Mary is the inspired word of God. It
is a beautiful prayer and a sign of God’s love for us. It is God's poem to us
to get us to participate in the plan of salvation and to motivate us to say
yes. If we say no to God then we’re in trouble but if we say yes then we are
saved. There’ll be suffering, even Mary who is without sin suffered the 7 sorrows.
When Jesus is just a baby she was told of the sword that will pierce her heart.
The sword pierced her heart when Jesus was missing for 3 days but the most
intense was when He died on the cross. She had to go through sorrow and she is
without sin. Do we think we are to get away scar free? How we get there is not
as important what matters most is that we get there. It is God's divine will
that He chose Mary to be part of the equation. Her immaculate heart keeps the
heart of Jesus alive while He was in the womb. He loves us and He loves her so
we say yes to Mary and be a handmaid of the Lord. She will definitely help us
get to where Jesus is. We will never regret it for we are a people of the Word
like Mary is. Amen. Hallelujah!
Luke 1:26-38
26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth , 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man
named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And
coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she
was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this
might be. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have
found favor with God. 31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called Son of the
Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, 33
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will
be no end.” 34 But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no
relations with a man?” 35 And the angel said to her in reply, “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. 36 And
behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and
this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; 37 for nothing will be
impossible for God.” 38 Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May
it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
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