READING OF THE DAY
First reading from the Book of the prophet Isaiah
Is 7:10-14; 8:10
The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying:
Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God;
let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!
But Ahaz answered,
“I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!”
Then Isaiah said:
Listen, O house of David!
Is it not enough for you to weary people,
must you also weary my God?
Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us!”
Second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Hebrews
Heb 10:4-10
Brothers and sisters:
It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats
take away sins.
For this reason, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight.
Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,
behold, I come to do your will, O God.’”
First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings,
holocausts and sin offerings,
you neither desired nor delighted in.”
These are offered according to the law.
Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.”
He takes away the first to establish the second.
By this “will,” we have been consecrated
through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Luke
Lk 1:26-38
The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
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,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
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.
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;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
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.
Lk 1:26-38
GOD’S TEACHING
Contemplation
Dear People of God,
Today’s Word of God talks about God sending the angel Gabriel to bring the Word of God to a woman named Mary. God’s command is as follows: “Rejoice, full of grace, God is with you, do not be afraid, for you are well-pleased with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of King David, his ancestor. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his reign there will be no end.”
Mother Mary is a woman who has been placed by God for thousands of generations in His saving work. Mary was chosen by God to be the Mother of the Second Person of God, to be the Immaculate Conception, to be a virgin for the rest of her life, and to have the privilege of ascending to heaven in body and soul. These four privileges have been given to her by God since time immemorial. And the greatest is to be the Mother of God; and when she gave birth she was still a virgin. This is a miracle that shows that only the power of God can do that. Besides, no one can turn from evil to good. No one has the power to create out of nothing but God alone. The image of a human being becoming the Mother of God is hard to believe with a human mind. But with the mystery and power of God, He can do all things. These are the creeds in the Catholic Church that everyone must believe.
Even Mother Mary herself could not believe this to be true: God made a fetus into her womb. Because in her heart mother Mary knew that she always kept herself a virgin before God, but how could she have children? But it was God who made Mary known; when giving birth is due to God’s own power, the Holy Spirit will descend on her and the power of God will shine on her person. Therefore, the One who is about to be born will be called the son of God, the son of the Most High. It is such a great grace that no other woman has enjoyed it but Mary alone. It shows that God’s infinite power and power can do everything.
No one can fathom the way how in God’s work, in the Mystery of the Trinity is at work. Who can believe from God to become a human? But with God’s mystery of salvation it happened. That’s because of “God’s Love”. For loving human, God himself sent his only Son to become a man, to save humanity from death, from death’s captivity. Besides, there was a miracle that happened to Elizabeth, she was too old to give birth, could not bear children, but with the mystery of God’s work, He could still make her bear children. . This is beyond human imagination.
Next, the Word of God speaks of Mary’s obedience and humility before God. She completely submits to God’s will, and entrusts everything to God. She received noble graces from God. With a person of small and low status, but Mother completely trusted. She received a very great responsibility, that is, to receive the Second Person of God into her womb. She cooperated in God’s saving work, accepted and nurtured the Second Person of God in this world, so that God’s work of salvation could be completely completed. With the power and strength of God, He can do all things. The Word of God and the power of the Trinity with the unity of the Holy Spirit in this age, God continues His saving work after Jesus had ascended to heaven. This is the age of the Holy Spirit at work. He can flexibly and flexibly follow God’s way of salvation.
In this new age, God sent angels to incarnate as humans, who would believe? Because people think that there is only God who came to earth incarnate as a human. But in this new age, the miraculous work of salvation of the Triune God, he has done, is for Chu Thien Thuong, an angel of God who has been placed from time immemorial in his saving work. So be like a normal human being. When the time came for God to choose, to separate to do God’s work, to continue the mission of Jesus. But this is a creature, an angel, not a God like the Second Person Jesus came to earth as a man. Because to continue the work of God is to do three things following the mission of Jesus: the first is to cast out demons, the second is to write the word of God, this is the real Word of God that instructs people in life daily life, the third is laying hands to heal the sick. These three things that Jesus came to earth as a man also did. And today, just as the Jews of old could not believe, Jesus as the Son of God who came to earth as a man was also fulfilled. People and the Church today also cannot believe that angels came to earth to become human, but this is a fact, the truth of God will be happening in His saving work.
And in this age there will still be angels who came to earth to cooperate in God’s saving work. When angels came to earth as a human, it did not completely erase the redemptive work of Jesus coming to earth as a human. Angels come to earth as a human being just continuing the saving work of Jesus with the action of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
