Friday March 25, 2022

ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD

 

We celebrate today the solemn feast of the Annunciation. “Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” said the old missal. That was correct, in a way, for the angel came to announce glad tidings to Mary. “Annunciation of the Lord,” says the new missal. Yes, this is the day that the Good News is announced that she will become the Mother of Jesus. It is Jesus who is announced. He will be “God-with-us” (1st reading), who comes to do God’s will by being with us and saving us (2nd reading). It’s Jesus’ day, but it’s also Mary’s day. With the same disposition to serve God and people as Jesus had, she says, “I am fully ready to serve. I am the handmaid of the Lord.” May these be our words too.

                    

First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-17; 8:10 

God spoke again to Ahaz. This time he said, “Ask for a sign from your God. Ask anything. Be extravagant. Ask for the moon!”

But Ahaz said, “I’d never do that. I’d never make demands like that on God!”

So Isaiah told him, “Then listen to this, government of David! It’s bad enough that you make people tired with your pious, timid hypocrisies, but now you’re making God tired. So the Master is going to give you a sign anyway. Watch for this: A girl who is presently a virgin will get pregnant. She’ll bear a son and name him Immanuel (God-With-Us). By the time the child is twelve years old, able to make moral decisions, the threat of war will be over. Relax, those two kings that have you so worried will be out of the picture. But also be warned: God will bring on you and your people and your government a judgment worse than anything since the time the kingdom split, when Ephraim left Judah. The king of Assyria is coming!”

But face the facts, all you oppressors, and then wring your hands.
    Listen, all of you, far and near.
Prepare for the worst and wring your hands.
    Yes, prepare for the worst and wring your hands!
Plan and plot all you want—nothing will come of it.
    All your talk is mere talk, empty words,
Because when all is said and done,
    the last word is Immanuel—God-With-Us.

 

Second Reading: Hebrews 10:4-10

The old plan was only a hint of the good things in the new plan. Since that old “law plan” wasn’t complete in itself, it couldn’t complete those who followed it. No matter how many sacrifices were offered year after year, they never added up to a complete solution. If they had, the worshipers would have gone merrily on their way, no longer dragged down by their sins. But instead of removing awareness of sin, when those animal sacrifices were repeated over and over they actually heightened awareness and guilt. The plain fact is that bull and goat blood can’t get rid of sin. That is what is meant by this prophecy, put in the mouth of Christ:

You don’t want sacrifices and offerings year after year;
    you’ve prepared a body for me for a sacrifice.
It’s not fragrance and smoke from the altar
    that whet your appetite.
So I said, “I’m here to do it your way, O God,
    the way it’s described in your Book.”

When he said, “You don’t want sacrifices and offerings,” he was referring to practices according to the old plan. When he added, “I’m here to do it your way,” he set aside the first in order to enact the new plan—God’s way—by which we are made fit for God by the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus.

 

Gospel: Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:

Good morning!
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!

She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

He will be great,
    be called ‘Son of the Highest.’
The Lord God will give him
    the throne of his father David;
He will rule Jacob’s house forever—
    no end, ever, to his kingdom.”

Mary said to the angel, “But how? I’ve never slept with a man.”

 The angel answered,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
    the power of the Highest hover over you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birth
    will be called Holy, Son of God.

“And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”

And Mary said,

Yes, I see it all now:
    I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me
    just as you say.

Then the angel left her.

 

Prayer

Our faithful God and Father,

 you are indeed our “God-with-us.”

Your Son became one of us, human,

born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary.

He came to serve,

she was the humble handmaid.

Make us deeply aware, Lord,

that salvation began with service.

Make us ready to serve in love,

as Mary did, together with Jesus Christ,

your Son and our Lord for ever. Amen.

 

Reflection:

I am the handmaid of the Lord (v. 38a).

Today, we join Pope Francis and all the Bishops around the world in consecrating Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary to pray for peace among the suffering people.

We celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. In the Gospel account, one must always remember that the evangelist Luke was not giving an eye-witness’s account of the event. Luke attempts to present Mary as the favoured one of God – or the beloved of God – and how God reveals his plan to his Beloved and her willingness to accept the plan of God

In Nazareth, they called her Mary; in Heaven, she was known as the Beloved of God – that’s how the angel addresses her. Gospel gives her a third name, which the Christian community identified her with: the Servant of the Lord.

In the Gospel, Luke presents Mary calling herself as the Handmaid – the servant of God. This title does not mean— “a humble servant,” but it is a title of supreme honour. The authors of the Old Testament books reserved this title to the great men who were faithful to God (this title was never given to a woman). Samuel, David, the prophets, the priests in the temple who night and day bless God (Ps 134:1-2) were all called “servants of the Lord”. Whenever the Old Testament mentioned the name of Moses, the sacred author often added the title: “servant of the Lord.”

It is unlikely that Mary attributed to herself such a high title, although nobody deserved it more than her. It is more likely that the early Christian community—chose this biblical title to qualify her and Luke, while writing the Gospel, has put it on her lips.

Then comes her famous response: Let it be done to me as you have said (v. 38b). It does not mean a resigned consent to the message of the angel. Instead, it expresses a joyful desire. On the lips of Mary, it reveals her anxiety to see the plan of the Lord realized in her.

Where God enters, joy always comes. The story, beginning with the call, ‘rejoice’, ends with the joyful exclamation of the Virgin ‘let it be done’. No one in the likes of David, Nathan, Solomon, the kings of Israel had understood God’s plan; They all had high ambitions and expected God to fulfil their dreams. Mary does not behave like them; she has not put any of her personal dreams or projects before God. She only asked him to clearly show the role he intends to entrust her. After having understood, she joyfully welcomed his will.

With the announcement of his coming into the world—he reminds us that he cannot be happy in heaven without us.

 

Video available on Youtube: I am the handmaid of the Lord