READING OF THE DAY
A reading from the First Book of Samuel
1 Sm 1:24-28
In those days,
Hannah brought Samuel with her,
along with a three-year-old bull,
an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine,
and presented him at the temple of the LORD in Shiloh.
After the boy’s father had sacrificed the young bull,
Hannah, his mother, approached Eli and said:
“Pardon, my lord!
As you live, my lord,
I am the woman who stood near you here, praying to the LORD.
I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request.
Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD;
as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.”
She left Samuel there.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Luke
Lk 1:46-56
Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.”
Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months
and then returned to her home.
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent
December 22, 2022
(Lk 1:46-56)
God’s Word for Us
Dear people of God,
The Word of God today reveals to all mankind: The Magnificat of the Blessed Virgin Mary to God the Father was very beautiful, and God the Father was pleased with her praise.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is the one who glorified God; she spent her whole life glorifying, honoring, and praising God. God knows the kind, gentle, and humble heart of Our Blessed Lady. She believed absolutely in the power of God and put God above all things. God the Father chose Mary as a woman to cooperate in the saving work of God, which was to conceive the Son of the Almighty God.
God reveals to humanity that it is the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary that is the most beautiful song of praise to God. The Magnificat’s praise has shown her very person. She recognized herself as a servant, a handmaid of God. She glorified God with her own humility, self-abasement, and absolute trust in the Most High God. And with the same obedience, poverty, simplicity, humility, and purity that she offered God, she recognized her status as a servant, the lowest. It was through humility that she obeyed the will of God the Father and fulfilled her duty to bear the Son of God. She collaborated in the work of evangelization of God until her last breath.
God wants to invite people today: To look to the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary who spent her whole life singing praises to and glorifying God. Following her example, she always acknowledged her sinful, weak, and lowly status before God, so that she could always listen to and obey God absolutely. Believe in the power of the all-powerful God, because He can do all things in this world.
God invites man: To have absolute trust in the love of God. He is never a jealous, selfish God towards people, but He is always a loving, merciful, infinite God. God always opens His arms to invite all of His children to turn from sin and return to God the Father; for only in God is joy, happiness, and peace; no suffering, no death.
Today, God has revealed: Because the Blessed Virgin Mary was joyful and obedient to the will of God the Father, she was praised by Him as a woman full of grace, a mother pleasing to the heart of God. She was the one chosen by God the Father to be the Mother of the Supreme Son of God.
Thanks Be to God. Amen.
