INTRODUCTION
There have been, and still are, many people who profess to be “messiahs” and “saviours” of humanity. The readings today tell us that there is only true Messiah: Jesus the Son of Mary. They narrate the circumstances leading up to the first coming of Jesus, the event which sets the pattern for his coming to us now and at the end of time. And in particular, the Gospel stresses the key role of Mary in the work of our salvation. In addition, today’s Scripture texts describe God’s promise to David and its fulfillment in Jesus, the Son of David. They also tell us that God’s preparation for the coming of Jesus was full of surprises. Those who adhere to the mystery of His revelations will certainly have a life of surprises.
FIRST READING: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16
When David succeeded Saul around 1010 B.C as the second king of Israel, one of his projects was to capture Jerusalem from the Jebusites (2 Sam. 5:6-10) and make it the political capital of his kingdom. He succeeded in capturing Jerusalem and named it the city of David (v.9). At the completion of the palace building, David thought of constructing a beautiful house to accommodate the Ark of the Covenant (a symbol of God’s presence in the midst of His chosen people). Such a move was inspired by the fact that for over 200 years, the Ark of the Covenant had been a “mobile shrine,” kept in a tent so that it could be easily carried to any place to which the people moved or where Yahweh’s special presence was needed. So having secured Jerusalem as a permanent aboard, David thought that the Ark needed a permanent aboard too. Little did David know that God cannot be caged. He is everywhere. Though his consultation of the prophet Nathan received a positive approval as we heard in the first reading. But unfortunately the prophet at this time did not first consult Yahweh. So for David and for the prophet it might have been a disappointment to hear Yahweh change the project because He was much more concerned with turning David’s family into “My House” than with residing in a “house” Himself. That is to say, God’s presence in families is more important than is His presence in any type of temple we can ever imagine. The message to David and to all is clear; “I prefer the heart of men to a house of gold.” By promising David a line of kingly successors that would last forever, God simply meant that David was not to build a house for Him; rather He would build a “House” for David! And so He did. Therefore the Son of God, the Emmanuel born of David’s lineage, is that house, and He is the everlasting fulfilment of the kingly lineage of David. Before bringing the everlasting kingship of Christ to fruition, God allowed the descendants of David to serve as kings of Israel in unbroken succession. But in the 6th century BC, the Babylonians conquered Judah and ended the succession of Davidic kings, prompting Israel to look for a different kind of fulfillment of God’s promise to David. In other words, Israel began to look for the Messiah, a descendant of David who would come at the end of time to eradicate evil from the world. Interestingly, the beginning of the fulfillment of this hope is made evident in today’s Gospel where the angel tells Mary that the son she is about to conceive will sit on “the throne of his father David, and reign over the house of Jacob forever” (Lk. 1: 32-33). It purports the restoration of the ancient throne of David, but at this time a mystical throne whose authority is not limited to the Jerusalem of Judah but a Jerusalem of the world and the celestial Jerusalem. God who opted to alter the project of David reminds us that we are not on earth to do things for Him, but to reflect and build on what He is doing for us, in us, and through us.
SECOND READING: Romans 16:25-27
Even though Paul was not the founder of the church of Rome, he maintained a good correspondence with the Christians there. Evidently, his letter to the Romans was a kind of introduction of himself to them and a partial synthesis of his theology. The section of Paul’s Letter to the Romans which we read today is a prayer praising God for revealing through the Gospels, “the mystery kept secret for long ages,” to all nations. In other words, God worked through His chosen people in the past, and He can and will work in and through the Gentiles through the risen Jesus. The Church has selected this prayer in the final week of our preparation for Christmas to remind us of the sublime facts commemorated at Christmas, namely, how, in becoming man, Christ elevated our nature by uniting it with His own Divine nature and made us adopted children of God with a claim to eternal life and the possibility of sharing in God’s Kingdom forever. (Fr. Anthony Kadavil).
GOSPEL: Luke 1:26-38
The evangelist Luke was among the Gentiles converted by St. Paul at Troas about AD 50. Later, he became a fellow-worker with Paul in spreading the Faith. Luke’s Gentile Christian community lived a generation or more later than the apostles, after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70. Since they were not Jews, Luke had to explain to them how Jesus was the Messiah promised to the Jews by God through the prophets. Luke’s account also explains how the Messiah had his human origin while retaining His Divine nature. In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke shows us how Jesus continued to operate among his apostles and in the early Church. Today’s narrative of the infancy of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel was intended to teach the Gentile converts their Christian heritage and to keep them focused on their new religion’s mission.
Chronologically, the story of the annunciation by the angel to Zechariah (1:5-25) immediately precedes this story of the annunciation by the angel to Mary. The Zechariah story is like the annunciation to Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 18:1-15) in that both couples were old, beyond childbearing age, and both Zechariah and Sarah doubted. The Zechariah story is like the annunciation to Mary in that neither Elizabeth (Zechariah’s wife) nor Mary is a likely candidate for motherhood. Elizabeth is too old, so John’s birth will require a miracle. Mary is a virgin, so Jesus’ birth will require an even greater miracle.
Therefore, the Angel Gabriel chose to surprise Mary with seven announcements:
i) Even as a virgin betrothed to Joseph, she will become a mother.
ii) She will become a mother through “the Holy Spirit [Who] will come upon you, and the Power of the Most High [Who] will overshadow you.”
iii) The angel continues, “Therefore, the Child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God.”
iv) She is to “name the child Jesus,” which means Savior.
v) God will make Him a King and, as a descendant in the line of David,
vi) “He will rule over the House of Jacob forever, and of His Kingdom there will be no end.”
vii) As a Divine sign, Elizabeth, Mary’s aged barren cousin is six months pregnant, “for,” says Gabriel, “nothing shall be impossible with God!” With this last phrase the evangelist Luke reaffirms the concept of God’s omnipotence already present in the Old Testament (Gen.18:14; Job 32:2; Jer. 32:17.27; Zech. 8:6).
“For with God nothing will be impossible.” It is ironic that Zechariah, who asked for a sign, got one that deprived him of speech until what had been foretold him had come to its full completion (1:20), while Mary, who did not ask for a sign, was given one that both gave her and her family joy and prompted her to go to the assistance of her aged kinswoman. If Mary wanted to know how she could bear a son while remaining a virgin, she need only to look to her kinswoman Elizabeth who, despite her age, was pregnant, Gabriel tells her. If God could create new life in old woman, He could surely do the same in a young virgin. “For with God nothing will be impossible” (v. 37).
This is truly a Good News for those of us who find ourselves in impossible situations. As we walk with the Lord, however, we need to remember that for God, no situation is beyond redemption. We simply need to submit to God and then allow Him to get into work in our lives. Just like Mary said: “May it be done to me according to your word.” Mary does not require confirmation but responds in Faith. She agrees to carry out the Word Gabriel has addressed to her. Her response again calls forth Old Testament language — Abraham’s “Here I am” (Gn 22:1) — Isaiah’s “Here am I, send me” (Is 6:8) — Hannah’s “Think kindly of your maidservant” (1 Sm 1:18) — Samuel’s “Here I am” (1 Sm 3:4). Raymond Brown says “Mary’s response qualifies her as Jesus’ first disciple. Subsequent references to her are consistent with this pattern (Luke 1:45ff; 8:19-21; 11:27-28; Acts 1:14). Her humble acquiescence to the will of God commends itself to every believer: “’Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let what you have said be done to me.’” Mary is thus presented as the perfect disciple. Those who find out what God wants of them and accept His message as Mary did are Jesus’ true followers. Those who only hear the Word but never put it into action are deceiving themselves. Christian Faith is a matter of continually making Jesus a part of our lives.
LIFE MESSAGES
1. THERE IS A YES WE MUST SAY TO GOD
We need to say a courageous and generous “Yes” to God as Mary did. True obedience comes from a free choice made in the light of what is true and good. It often requires a great deal of courage, because it can involve going against the tide of social expectations. We will surely lose something from the world when we say sincere “yes” to God, but then we will gain something that we will never lose. When God becomes everything we need then every other thing we need becomes God’s. The implication is that having God at the centre of ones life makes us capable of everything. St. Paul says; “I can do all things in him that strengthens me.” He actually did by surrendering himself to God. There is a “yes” each one of us must say today. It could that the particular sin we enjoy is an obstacle to total commitment to God. Then we must say “yes” to the voice of change. We are sometimes tempted to think that we have become to much addicted to it that it is impossible to change. Mary did not know how her yes will realize what God was asking of her, but the angel made her to understand that once she says the yes then God will take over. Will we surrender to God and allow God to do what, from our human point of view, seems impossible? Will we surrender our agenda, our will and our kingdom to God and allow God’s agenda, will and Kingdom become a reality for and through us? It is by saying, with Mary, a wholehearted “Yes,” to God that Jesus will be re-born in each of us – or maybe even born in us for the first time. By my saying “yes,” Jesus may well be born or reborn in others too.
2) WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND GOD ’S PLAN FOR OUR LIVES:
The Good News in today’s Scripture message is not only that God is making provision for the salvation of His people, but also that He has a plan for each individual person. Just as God called Mary, He calls every mother to raise her child in the awareness of God’s nurturing presence, His unconditional love, and His guiding commandments. In many cases, our work for God seems rather ordinary, but each ordinary task which we carry out fits into God’s plan in ways that we cannot yet understand. God desire not the skill of our hands and talents alone, but the love of our hearts. The Babe in the Manger reminds us of what God has done and is still doing for us. What are we doing in return? Let us show our gratitude to God by living as true followers of Christ: “Behold, here I am Lord, your humble and grateful servant. Let it be done to me according to Your word.” St. Francis said, “We are the mother of Christ when we carry him in our heart… and we give birth to him through our holy works which ought to shine on others by our example.”
3) “WITH GOD NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE”
God is God. Nothing overpowers Him. He is never hindered by anything. The things on our minds, the things in our heart that are often beyond our abilities to see how they can be fixed, can be fixed by God. Nothing is impossible with Him. He sees things differently than we do, and so He brings about things in ways that we could never conceive. To understand the power of God, we only need to change our logic of thinking. God answers every prayer. It could come as Yes, or No or Wait. The secret of prayer is that God wants the best for us. The best could be “No” because what we pray for as need may not be what He wants best for us. Sometimes the best could be “Wait”. It simply means that God will respond but at the right time (He knows the right time). But since we often have a unilateral understanding of prayer that is, “Yes” answer, it makes us to think that the silence of God shows that He is indifferent to our needs. Jesus taught us the best positive disposition to prayer that is, praying for our needs but at the same time putting the will of God ahead. At the garden of Gethsemane He asked that the cup of suffering be removed but at the same time ready to accept the will of the Father (Mt. 26:39).
No matter how bad the condition may have developed. It is not irreparable for God. Even in the heat of thirst at the desert of Shur, God turned Marah into a sweet water (Ex. 15:22-25). Trust God and the rest will be history.
4) INSPIRATION FROM THE DOMINICAN MYSTIC MEISTER ECKHART:
i) “What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to his Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time and my culture?” Mary’s “Yes” that brought Christ to the world is not just a “memory event,” such as recalling Babe Ruth or Tiger Woods setting records to remember. Instead, it ought to lead us to ponder how to imitate her: how can I bring Christ to the daily world that I live and participate in? Do I reflect Christ in what I say and do? Am I a true disciple, like Mary the model disciple?
ii) A second question that Meister Eckhart asks: “What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son . . . does not take place within myself?” When God comes to dwell within us at our Baptism, we are empowered to live the Christ-life, one oriented to loving God and neighbor. Do I see that orientation in my own heart, or am I still oriented to selfishness? Do I humbly submit to all of the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church, without exception, so that its wisdom can grow in my heart? In summary, in a sense our personal meditation can parallel Mary’s journey: have I truly given an unqualified “Yes” to Jesus in my own life, and what is the best way for me to bring this Good News to my own little world?
PRAYER
Come Lord Jesus and do not delay. Do not allow us to grow weary. Renewed by your Spirit, may we hasten our feet to meet you our Lord and our salvation, who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.
PAX VOBIS!
