Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 04-04-05, Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

USCCB.org/New American Bible ^ | 04-04-05 | New American Bible

[Salvation]

April 4, 2005
Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

Psalm: Monday 17

Reading I
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!"

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 40:7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 11

R (8a and 9a) Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, "Behold I come."
R Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
"In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!"
R Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Your justice I kept not hid within my heart;
your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of;
I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth
in the vast assembly.
R Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.


Reading II
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
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.

[Salvation]

For your reading, reflection, faith-sharing, comments, questions, discussion.

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The image above is Federico Barocci's Annunciation

1592-96; Oil on canvas;
S. Maria degli Angeli, Perugia, Italy

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Thank you! The picture is beautiful!

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[Salvation]

From: Hebrews 10:4-10


The Sacrifices of the Old Covenant Could
Not Take Away Sins (Continuation)

---

[4] For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take
away sins.


Christ's Offering of Himself Has Infinite Value

---

[5] Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, "Sacrifices
and offerings Thou hast not desired, but a body hast Thou prepared for Me;
[6] in burnt offerings and sin offerings Thou hast taken no pleasure.
[7] Then I said, `Lo, I have come to do Thy will, O God,' as it is
written of Me in the roll of the book." [8] When He said above, "Thou
hast neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and
burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the
law), [9] then He added, "Lo, I have come to do Thy will." He
abolishes the first in order to establish the second. [10] And by that
will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all.

---

Commentary:


2-4. These verses repeat what is said in verse 1 and in 9:12-13. "Tell
me, then, what is the point of having more victims and more sacrifices
when a single victim would suffice for atonement for sins [...].
Multiple sacrifices in effect show that the Jews needed to atone for
their sins because they had failed to find forgiveness: it points to
the inefficacy of the victims offered, rather than to their power"
(Chrysostom, "Hom. on Heb.", 17). The ultimate reason for this
inefficacy is explained by a striking statement: "It is impossible that
the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins" (verse 4). There
is here an echo of those proclamations of the prophets which reminded
the people that true purification comes not from external actions but
from conversion of heart (cf. Jeremiah 2:22; 4:14; 11:15; Micah 6:7-8;
Psalm 51:18-19; etc.).


And yet, is it not the case that the priests of the New Testament renew
Jesus' sacrifice in the Mass everyday? St. John Chrysostom answers:
"Yes, that is true, but not because we regard the original sacrifice,
Christ's sacrifice, as ineffective or impotent. We priests repeat it
to commemorate His death. We have but one victim, Christ--not many
victims [...]. There is but one and the same sacrifice [...], one
Christ whole and entire, here as elsewhere, the same everywhere--the
same Christ on all the altars. Just as Jesus Christ, although offered
in different places, has only one body, so everywhere there is but one
sacrifice [...]. What we do is a commemoration of Christ's offering,
for at the Supper He said, `Do this in memory of Me.' Therefore, we do
not offer, as the high priest of the Law did, a new, additional victim:
it is not one sacrifice more, but always the same one" ("Hom. on Heb.",
17).


The Mass "is the sacrifice of Christ, offered to the Father with the
cooperation of the Holy Spirit--an offering of infinite value, which
perpetuates the work of the Redemption in us and surpasses the
sacrifices of the Old Law. The holy Mass brings us face to face with
one of the central mysteries of our faith, because it is the gift of
the Blessed Trinity to the Church. It is because of this that we can
consider the Mass as the center and the source of a Christian's
spiritual life. It is the final end of all the Sacraments" ([St] J. Escriva,
"Christ Is Passing By", 86-87).


5-10. This passage carries a quotation from Psalm 40:7-8, but one taken
from the Greek translation, the Septuagint, not from the Hebrew. Where
the Hebrew says, "Thou hast opened My ears", the Greek reads, "a body
Thou hast prepared for Me". The difference is not substantial, because
the Hebrew _expression points to the docility and obedience of the
speaker, who is the Messiah Himself. The Greek translation gives the
sentence a more general meaning: God has not only opened the ears of
the Messiah; He has given Him life as a man (cf. Philippians 2:7). The
words of this Psalm "allow us as it were to sound the unfathomable
depths of this self-abasement of the Word, His humiliation of Himself
for love of men even to death on the Cross [...]. Why this obedience,
this self-abasement, this suffering? The Creed gives us the answer:
'for us men and for our salvation' Jesus came down from Heaven so as to
give man full entitlement to ascend (to Heaven) and by becoming a son
in the Son to regain the dignity he lost through sin [...]. Let us
welcome Him. Let us say to Him, `Here I am; I have come to do Your
will'" ([Pope] John Paul II, "General Audience", 25 March 1981).


The author of the letter, elaborating on the text of the psalm, asserts
that the Messiah's sacrifice is greater than the sacrifices of the Old
Law, unbloody as well as bloody, sin-offerings as well as burnt
offerings as they were called in the liturgy (cf. Leviticus 5;6;
7:27). The sacrifice of Christ, who has "come into the world", has
replaced both kinds of ancient sacrifice. It consisted in perfectly
doing the will of His Father (cf. John 4:34; 6:38; 8:29; 14:31), even
though He was required to give His life to the point of dying on
Calvary (Matthew 26:42; John 10:18; Hebrews 5:7-9). Christ "came into
the world" to offer Himself up to suffering and death for the
redemption of the world. "He knew that all the sacrifices of goats and
bulls offered to God in ancient times were incapable of making
satisfaction for the sins of men; He knew that a divine person was
needed to do that [...]. My Father (Jesus Christ said), all the
victims offered You up to this are not enough and never will be enough
to satisfy Your justice; You gave Me a body capable of experiencing
suffering, so that You might be placated by the shedding of My blood,
and men thereby saved; `"ecce venio", here I am, ready; I accept
everything and in all things do I submit to Your will'. The lower part
of His human nature naturally felt repugnance and reacted against
living and dying in so much pain and opprobium, but its rational part,
which was fully subject to the Father's will, had the upper hand; it
accepted everything, and therefore Jesus Christ began to suffer, from
that point onwards, all the anguish and pain which He would undergo in
the course of His life. That is how our Divine Redeemer acted from the
very first moments of His coming into the world. So, how should we
behave towards Jesus when, come to the use of reason, we begin to know
the sacred mysteries of Redemption through the light of faith?" (St.
Alphonsus, "Advent Meditations", II, 5).


The Psalm speaks of "the roll of the book": this may refer to a
specific book or else to the Old Testament in general (cf. Luke 24:27;
John 5;39, 46, 47).

---

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

[Salvation]

From: Luke 1:26-38


The Annunciation and Incarnation of the Son of God

---

[26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city
of Galilee named Nazareth, [27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose
name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
[28] And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is
with you!" [29] But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and
considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. [30] And
the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found
favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and
bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. [32] He will be great,
and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give
to Him the throne of His father David, [33] and He will reign over the
house of Jacob for ever; and of His Kingdom there will be no end."
[34] And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no
husband?" [35] And the angel said to her, "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, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a
son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. [37]
For with God nothing will be impossible." [38] And Mary said, "Behold,
I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your
word." And the angel departed from her.

---

Commentary:


26-38. Here we contemplate our Lady who was "enriched from the first
instant of her conception with the splendor of an entirely unique
holiness; [...] the virgin of Nazareth is hailed by the heralding
angel, by divine command, as `full of grace' (cf. Luke 1:28), and to
the heavenly messenger she replies, `Behold the handmaid of the Lord,
be it done unto me according to thy word' (Luke 1:38). Thus the
daughter of Adam, Mary, consenting to the word of God, became the
Mother of Jesus. Committing herself wholeheartedly to God's saving
will and impeded by no sin, she devoted herself totally, as a handmaid
of the Lord, to the person and work of her Son, under and with Him,
serving the mystery of Redemption, by the grace of Almighty God.
Rightly, therefore, the Fathers (of the Church) see Mary not merely as
passively engaged by God, but as freely cooperating in the work of
man's salvation through faith and obedience" (Vatican II, "Lumen
Gentium", 56).


The annunciation to Mary and incarnation of the Word constitute the
deepest mystery of the relationship between God and men and the most
important event in the history of mankind: God becomes man, and will
remain so forever, such is the extent of His goodness and mercy and
love for all of us. And yet on the day when the Second Person of the
Blessed Trinity assumed frail human nature in the pure womb of the
Blessed Virgin, it all happened quietly, without fanfare of any kind.


St. Luke tells the story in a very simple way. We should treasure
these words of the Gospel and use them often, for example, practising
the Christian custom of saying the Angelus every day and reflecting on
the five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary.


27. God chose to be born of a virgin; centuries earlier He disclosed
this through the prophet Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23). God,
"before all ages made choice of, and set in her proper place, a mother
for His only-begotten Son from whom He, after being made flesh, should
be born in the blessed fullness of time: and He continued His
persevering regard for her in preference to all other creatures, to
such a degree that for her alone He had singular regard" (Pius IX,
"Ineffabilis Deus," 2). This privilege granted to our Lady of being a
virgin and a mother at the same time is a unique gift of God. This was
the work of the Holy Spirit "who at the conception and the birth of
the Son so favored the Virgin Mother as to impart fruitfulness to her
while preserving inviolate her perpetual virginity" ("St. Pius V
Catechism," I, 4, 8). Paul VI reminds us of this truth of faith: "We
believe that the Blessed Mary, who ever enjoys the dignity of
virginity, was the Mother of the incarnate Word, of our God and Savior
Jesus Christ" ("Creed of the People of God", 14).


Although many suggestions have been made as to what the name Mary
means, most of the best scholars seem to agree that Mary means "lady".
However, no single meaning fully conveys the richness of the name.


28. "Hail, full of grace": literally the Greek text reads "Rejoice!",
obviously referring to the unique joy over the news which the angel is
about to communicate.


"Full of grace": by this unusual form of greeting the archangel reveals
Mary's special dignity and honor. The Fathers and Doctors of the
Church "taught that this singular, solemn and unheard-of-greeting
showed that all the divine graces reposed in the Mother of God and that
she was adorned with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit", which meant
that she "was never subject to the curse", that is, was preserved from
all sin. These words of the archangel in this text constitute one of
the sources which reveal the dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception (cf.
Pius IX, "Ineffabilis Deus"; Paul VI, "Creed of the People of God").


"The Lord is with you!": these words are not simply a greeting ("the
Lord be with you") but an affirmation ("the Lord is with you"), and
they are closely connected with the Incarnation. St. Augustine
comments by putting these words on the archangel's lips: "He is more
with you than He is with me: He is in your heart, He takes shape within
you, He fills your soul, He is in your womb" ("Sermo De Nativitate
Domini", 4).


Some important Greek manuscripts and early translations add at the end
of the verse: "Blessed are you among women!", meaning that God will
exalt Mary over all women. She is more excellent than Sarah, Hannah,
Deborah, Rachel, Judith, etc., for only she has the supreme honor of
being chosen to be the Mother of God.


29-30. Our Lady is troubled by the presence of the archangel and by the
confusion truly humble people experience when they receive praise.


30. The Annunciation is the moment when our Lady is given to know the
vocation which God planned for her from eternity. When the archangel
sets her mind at ease by saying, "Do not be afraid, Mary," he is
helping her to overcome that initial fear which a person normally
experiences when God gives him or her a special calling. The fact that
Mary felt this fear does not imply the least trace of imperfection in
her: hers is a perfectly natural reaction in the face of the
supernatural. Imperfection would arise if one did not overcome this
fear or rejected the advice of those in a position to help--as St.
Gabriel helped Mary.


31-33. The archangel Gabriel tells the Blessed Virgin Mary that she is
to be the Mother of God by reminding her of the words of Isaiah which
announced that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, a prophecy which
will find its fulfillment in Mary (cf. Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 7:14).


He reveals that the Child will be "great": His greatness comes from His
being God, a greatness He does not lose when He takes on the lowliness
of human nature. He also reveals that Jesus will be the king of the
Davidic dynasty sent by God in keeping with His promise of salvation;
that His Kingdom will last forever, for His humanity will remain
forever joined to His divinity; that "He will be called Son of the Most
High", that is that He really will be the Son of the Most High and will
be publicly recognized as such, that is, the Child will be the Son of
God.


The archangel's announcement evokes the ancient prophecies which
foretold these prerogatives. Mary, who was well-versed in Sacred
Scripture, clearly realized that she was to be the Mother of God.


34-38. Commenting on this passage John Paul II said: "`Virgo fidelis',
the faithful Virgin. What does this faithfulness of Mary mean? What
are the dimensions of this faithfulness? The first dimension is called
search. Mary was faithful first of all when she began, lovingly, to
seek the deep sense of God's plan in her and for the world. `Quomodo
fiet?' How shall this be?, she asked the Angel of the Annunciation
[...]."


"The second dimension of faithfulness is called reception, acceptance.
The `quomodo fiet?' is changed, on Mary's lips, to a `fiat': Let it be
done, I am ready, I accept. This is the crucial moment of
faithfulness, the moment in which man perceives that he will never
completely understand the `how': that there are in God's plan more
areas of mystery than of clarity; that is, however he may try, he will
never succeed in understanding it completely[...]."


"The third dimension of faithfulness is consistency to live in
accordance with what one believes; to adapt one's own life to the
object of one's adherence. To accept misunderstanding, persecutions,
rather than a break between what one practises and what one believes:
this is consistency[...]."


"But all faithfulness must pass the most exacting test, that of
duration. Therefore, the fourth dimension of faithfulness is
constancy. It is easy to be consistent for a day or two. It is
difficult and important to be consistent for one's whole life. It is
easy to be consistent in the hour of enthusiasm, it is difficult to be
so in the hour of tribulation. And only a consistency that lasts
throughout the whole life can be called faithfulness. Mary's `fiat' in
the Annunciation finds its fullness in the silent `fiat' that she
repeats at the foot of the Cross" ("Homily in Mexico City Cathedral",
26 January 1979).


34. Mary believed in the archangel's words absolutely; she did not
doubt as Zechariah had done (cf. 1:18). Her question, "How can this
be?", expresses her readiness to obey the will of God even though at
first sight it implied a contradiction: on the one hand, she was
convinced that God wished her to remain a virgin; on the other, here
was God also announcing that she would become a mother. The archangel
announces God's mysterious design, and what had seemed impossible,
according to the laws of nature, is explained by a unique intervention
on the part of God.


Mary's resolution to remain a virgin was certainly something very
unusual, not in line with the practice of righteous people under the
Old Covenant, for, as St. Augustine explains, "particularly attentive
to the propagation and growth of the people of God, through whom the
Prince and Savior of the world might be prophesied and be born, the
saints were obliged to make use of the good of matrimony" ("De Bono
Matrimonii", 9, 9). However, in the Old Testament, there were some who,
in keeping with God's plan, did remain celibate--for example, Jeremiah,
Elijah, Eliseus and John the Baptist. The Blessed Virgin, who received
a very special inspiration of the Holy Spirit to practise virginity, is
a first-fruit of the New Testament, which will establish the excellence
of virginity over marriage while not taking from the holiness of the
married state, which it raises to the level of a sacrament (cf.
"Gaudium Et Spes", 48).


35. The "shadow" is a symbol of the presence of God. When Israel was
journeying through the wilderness, the glory of God filled the
Tabernacle and a cloud covered the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus
40:34-36). And when God gave Moses the tablets of the Law, a cloud
covered Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:15-16); and also, at the Transfiguration
of Jesus the voice of God the Father was heard coming out of a cloud
(Luke 9:35).


At the moment of the Incarnation the power of God envelops our Lady--an
_expression of God's omnipotence. The Spirit of God--which, according
to the account in Genesis (1:2), moved over the face of the waters,
bringing things to life--now comes down on Mary. And the fruit of her
womb will be the work of the Holy Spirit. The Virgin Mary, who herself
was conceived without any stain of sin (cf. Pius IX, "Ineffabilis
Deus") becomes, after the Incarnation, a new tabernacle of God. This
is the mystery we recall every day when saying the Angelus.


38. Once she learns of God's plan, our Lady yields to God's will with
prompt obedience, unreservedly. She realizes the disproportion between
what she is going to become--the Mother of God--and what she is--a
woman. However, this is what God wants to happen and for Him nothing
is impossible; therefore no one should stand in His way. So Mary,
combining humility and obedience, responds perfectly to God's call:
"Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done according to
your word."


"At the enchantment of this virginal phrase, the Word became flesh"
([St] J. Escriva, "Holy Rosary", first joyful mystery). From the
pure body of Mary, God shaped a new body, He created a soul out of
nothing, and the Son of God united Himself with this body and soul:
prior to this He was only God; now He is still God but also man. Mary
is now the Mother of God. This truth is a dogma of faith, first
defined by the Council of Ephesus (431). At this point she also begins
to be the spiritual Mother of all mankind. What Christ says when He is
dying--`Behold, your son..., behold, your mother" (John
19:26-27)--simply promulgates what came about silently at Nazareth.
"With her generous `fiat' (Mary) became, through the working of the
Spirit, the Mother of God, but also the Mother of the living, and, by
receiving into her womb the one Mediator, she became the true Ark of
the Covenant and true Temple of God" (Paul VI, "Marialis Cultus", 6).


The Annunciation shows us the Blessed Virgin as perfect model of
"purity" (the RSV "I have no husband" is a euphemism); of "humility"
("Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord"); of "candor" and "simplicity"
("How can this be?"); of "obedience" and "lively faith" ("Let it be done
to me according to your word"). "Following her example of obedience to
God, we can learn to serve delicately without being slavish. In Mary,
we don't find the slightest trace of the attitude of the foolish
virgins, who obey, but thoughtlessly. Our Lady listens attentively to
what God wants, ponders what she doesn't fully understand and asks about
what she doesn't know. Then she gives herself completely to doing the
divine will: `Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to
me according to your word'. Isn't that marvellous? The Blessed
Virgin, our teacher in all we do, shows us here that obedience to God
is not servile, does not bypass our conscience. We should be inwardly
moved to discover the `freedom of the children of God' (cf. Romans
8:21)" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 173).

---

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

[Salvation]

April 4, 2005

Feast of the Annunciation

For nearly 1,500 years Christians have celebrated the Annunciation on March 25. Besides being nine months before Christmas, it is also the time of the year when daylight gradually increases appropriate for the feast celebrating the conception of the Light of the World.

This year, however, because March 25 was Good Friday, the Church transferred the Annunciation to today, Monday of the Second Week of Easter.

[Salvation]

Monday, April 4, 2005
The Annunciation of the Lord (Solemnity)

First Reading: Psalm: Second Reading: Gospel:

Isaiah 7:10-14 Psalm 40:7-11 Hebrews 10:4-10 Luke 1:26-38 Into your hands Lord I commend my Spirit. -- St. Stephen

[Salvation]

Catholic Culture

Collect: God our Father, your Word became man and was born of the Virgin Mary. May we become more like Jesus Christ, whom we acknowledge as our redeemer, God and man. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Recipes: » Angel Food Cake I » Angel Food Cake II » Boiled White Icing » Classic Angel Food Cake more » European Chocolate Icing » Jellied Macaroni Ring » Luscious Coffee Ring » Swedish Waffles » Waffles less Activities: » A Single Branch Three Roses Bore » Angelus Lesson » Annunciation Day » Annunciation Tableau more » Annunciation: A Little Play for Preschool Children » Ave Maria Dear » Beautiful, Glorious » Celebrating the Feasts of the Blessed Virgin » Family and Friends of Jesus Scrapbook Album » Feast of the Annunciation » Feast of the Annunciation » Feasts of Mary in the Family » Feasts of Our Lady in the Home » Mary Garden » Namedays » Preschool Parent Pedagogy: How to Tell Stories » Salve Regina » Stella Matutina » 'Tis Said of Our Dear Lady » Virgin Blessed, Thou Star the Fairest » What is a Nameday? less Prayers: » Table Blessing for the Solemnity of the Annunciation » Annunciation Novena » Table Blessing for the Feasts of the Mother of God » Novena for the Annunciation

April 04, 2005 Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord Old Calendar: Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (March 25) The Annunciation is a mystery that belongs to the temporal rather than to the sanctoral cycle in the Church's calendar. For the feast commemorates the most sublime moment in the history of time, the moment when the Second Divine Person of the most Holy Trinity assumed human nature in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Thus it is a feast of our Lord, even as it is of Mary, although the liturgy centers wholly around the Mother of God. — The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch The Annunciation A tradition, which has come down from the apostolic ages, tells us that the great mystery of the Incarnation was achieved on the twenty-fifth day of March. It was at the hour of midnight, when the most holy Virgin was alone and absorbed in prayer, that the Archangel Gabriel appeared before her, and asked her, in the name of the blessed Trinity, to consent to become the Mother of God. Let us assist, in spirit, at this wonderful interview between the angel and the Virgin: and, at the same time, let us think of that other interview which took place between Eve and the serpent. A holy bishop and martyr of the second century, Saint Irenaeus, who had received the tradition from the very disciples of the apostles, shows us that Nazareth is the counterpart of Eden.' In the garden of delights there is a virgin and an angel; and a conversation takes place-between them. At Nazareth a virgin is also addressed by an angel, and she answers him; but the angel of the earthly paradise is a spirit of darkness, and he of Nazareth is a spirit of light. In both instances it is the angel that has the first word. 'Why,' said the serpent to Eve, 'hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?' His question implies impatience and a solicitation to evil; he has contempt for the frail creature to whom he addresses it, but he hates the image of God which is upon her. See, on the other hand, the angel of light; see with what composure and peacefulness he approaches the Virgin of Nazareth, the new Eve; and how respectfully he bows himself down before her: 'Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women!' Such language is evidently of heaven: none but an angel could speak thus to Mary. Scarcely has the wicked spirit finished speaking than Eve casts a longing look at the forbidden fruit: she is impatient to enjoy the independence it is to bring her. She rashly stretches forth her hand; she plucks the fruit; she eats it, and death takes possession of her: death of the soul, for sin extinguishes the light of life; and death of the body, which being separated from the source of immortality, becomes an object of shame and horror, and finally crumbles into dust. But let us turn away our eyes from this sad spectacle, and fix them on Nazareth. Mary has heard the angel's explanation of the mystery; the will of heaven is made known to her, and how grand an honor it is to bring upon her! She, the humble maid of Nazareth, is to have the ineffable happiness of becoming the Mother of God, and yet the treasure of her virginity is to be left to her! Mary bows down before this sovereign will, and says to the heavenly messenger: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word.' Thus, as the great St. Irenaeus and so many of the holy fathers remark, the obedience of the second Eve repaired the disobedience of the first: for no sooner does the Virgin of Nazareth speak her fiat, 'be it done,' than the eternal Son of God (who, according to the divine decree, awaited this word) is present, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, in the chaste womb of Mary, and there He begins His human life. A Virgin is a Mother, and Mother of God; and it is this Virgin's consenting to the divine will that has made her conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost. This sublime mystery puts between the eternal Word and a mere woman the relations of Son and Mother; it gives to the almighty God a means whereby He may, in a manner worthy of His majesty, triumph over satan, who hitherto seemed to have prevailed against the divine plan. Never was there a more entire or humiliating defeat than that which this day befell satan. The frail creature, over whom he had so easily triumphed at the beginning of the world, now rises and crushes his proud head. Eve conquers in Mary. God would not choose man for the instrument of His vengeance; the humiliation of satan would not have been great enough; and therefore she who was the first prey of hell, the first victim of the tempter, is selected to give battle to the enemy. The result of so glorious a triumph is that Mary is to be superior not only to the rebel angels, but to the whole human race, yea, to all the angels of heaven. Seated on her exalted throne, she, the Mother of God, is to be the Queen of all creation. Satan, in the depths of the abyss, will eternally bewail his having dared to direct his first attack against the woman, for God has now so gloriously avenged her; and in heaven, the very Cherubim and Seraphim reverently look up to Mary, and deem themselves honored when she smiles upon them, or employs them in the execution of any of her wishes, for she is the Mother of their God. Therefore is it that we, the children of Adam, who have been snatched by Mary's obedience from the power of hell, solemnize this day of the Annunciation. Well may we say of Mary those words of Debbora, when she sang her song of victory over the enemies of God's people: 'The valiant men ceased, and rested in Israel, until Debbora arose, a mother arose in Israel. The Lord chose new wars, and He Himself overthrew the gates of the enemies." Let us also refer to the holy Mother of Jesus these words of Judith, who by her victory over the enemy was another type of Mary: 'Praise ye the Lord our God, who hath not forsaken them that hope in Him. And by me, His handmaid, He hath fulfilled His mercy, which He promised to the house of Israel; and He hath killed the enemy of His people by my hand this night. . . . The almighty Lord hath struck him, and hath delivered him into the hands of a woman, and hath slain him.' — The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B. Things to Do: This feast is very important in the defense of the life of unborn children. Even with small children, this is a good day to begin teaching about the high value God places on human life. He loved us so much that he became one of us, took on our human nature and became a innocent, completely dependent infant. This is a Solemnity, so when this feast falls during the Lenten season, our Lenten penance obligations are lifted. We should celebrate by some special food or dinner. This feast day forecasts the blessed event of Christmas, and illustrates how the liturgical year is a endless circle of days. To celebrate this circle or cycle, serve a cake, coffee rings, or wreath-shaped cookies, or foods shaped in ring molds for this feast day. A perfect symbolic food would be an angel food cake for the archangel Gabriel, baked in a tube pan for the endless circle, decorated with the frosting highlighted with blue for Mary. A traditional food for this day is waffles. "Lady Day" or Annunciation, is the only feast of Mary that Sweden still celebrates since the Lutheran faith became the state religion in 1593. In most of Europe, waffles are a traditional feast day food, but on the feast of the Annunciation in Sweden this is THE "Waffle Day" (Vaffeldagen), where waffles are served either for breakfast, lunch or dinner, with lingonberries or cloudberries.

[Salvation]

Nicholas Lochoff (4.1948) after

Simone Martini (Sienese, c. 1284.1344)
ANNUNCIATION

 Original (1333) in the Uffizi Florence Tempera on wood panel

Perhaps Simone's best known work the original was the central part of an altarpiece for Siena Cathedral. The angel Gabriel's words are ^-Ave gratia plena dominus tecum" (Luke 1;28), meaning Hail thou art full of grace, the Lord is with thee." The plaid cloak Gabriel wears billows in suggestion of a sudden arrival Mary pulls away, uncertain of how to react to his words, as the Gospel suggests. Sirnone here accomplished the interaction between figures and movement that the artists of the Renaissance would strive to achieve. In contrast, the gold background of gilded gesso would disappear in the later period In favor of more realistic settings. Lochoff reproduced the original's tempera paint. a pigment mixed with egg yolk that was a forerunner of oil paint.

[Salvation]

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	Nothing Is Impossible with God
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Monday, April 4, 2005

Isaiah 7:10-14; Luke 1:26-38

Three men were pacing nervously outside the delivery room at a hospital when the head nurse cam out beaming. To the first she said, "Congratulations, sir, you are the father of twins."

"Terrific!" said the man, "I just signed a contract with the Minnesota Twins and this'll be great press."

To the second man the nurse said, "Congratulations to you too. You are the father of healthy triplets!"

"Fantastic!" he said. "I'm the vice-president of 3-M Company. This'll be great P.R.!"

At that point the third man turned ashen and ran for the door. "What's wrong, sir? Where are you going?" called the nurse.

As he jumped into his car, the man shouted, "I'm dashing to my office to resign. I'm the president of 7-UP!"

+ + +

Run for the hills! This can't be!

That's exactly what Mary was feeling as she listened to the angel spell out what God wanted of her: "Virgin birth?! Are you crazy? Who's going to believe that? I'll be stoned to death as soon as the neighbors see I'm pregnant! Dear God, what are you asking of me?"

We know the feeling: "Dear God, what are you asking of me? How can I make a life out of this pile of junk you've given me? How am I going to survive till the end of the year — till the end of the week? How am I ever going to make a silk purse, when I don't even have a sow's ear? It's impossible, absolutely impossible!"

We've felt that and said that often enough. But it isn't true, as Mary showed us: Her whole being was so profoundly open to the Spirit that God filled her entirely with His own life and Jesus our Savior was conceived in her womb — the impossible happened.

So it can be with us who are daunted by life's "impossibilities." The key, as Mary learned, is not trying to do it all by ourselves: Working alone is a recipe for failure. The key to doing the impossible is learning how to let God in and let God lead; learning how to listen to Him and to see the world through his eyes; learning with His help to re-imagine our lives and to sing the words of a new song; learning from Him how to grow our minds and our hearts very large.

With God as our mentor and guide, our wisdom, our courage and our strength, with God as our partner, nothing is impossible. What a tragedy it would be to languish forever in a world of small hearts and tiny visions, a world of impossibilities. The choice is ours! And God is listening for our "Yes," just as He listened for Mary's. He is ready a waiting to fill us very, very full!

 

[Salvation]

 

 

A Voice in the Desert

 

Monday April 4, 2005   Feast of the Annunciation (Observed)

Reading I (Isaiah 7:10-14)   Reading II (Hebrews 10:4-10)

Gospel (St. Luke 1:26-38)

 As we celebrate today the Feast of the Annunciation, it is really the celebration of the Incarnation of Christ. So many people mistakenly think that the Incarnation took place on Christmas. It did not; it took place on the 25^th of March. Now we are celebrating it today because the 25^th of March fell during Holy Week, and so the Church transferred the feast to today. However, the Feast of the Annunciation is the day that Our Lord became flesh in the womb of His mother. As we heard the angel coming to our Blessed Lady and asking her if she would be willing to be the Mother of God, thanks be to God for Our Lady’s fiat: Let it be done to me according to thy word. It was in this that Our Lord became man. 

He Who is God from all eternity, He Who is a Divine Person, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, humbled Himself and condescended to become one of us, to take our human nature to Himself. Not to become a human person, because He did not; He became a human being but not a human person. He is a Divine Person and He can only be one person. Therefore, since He is a Divine Person from all eternity, that did not change. What He did was to take a human nature to Himself. That means He took a human body that had human blood and a human soul. He did not take a human personality; He had His Divine personality. And so His Divinity was then united by a humanity, and the two in a substantial manner – the humanity and the Divinity of Christ – make up the perfect union of one Person. He is not two persons; He is one Person. 

But in the Incarnation, He then has a Divine mind and He has a human mind. He has a Divine will and He has a human will. Two minds and two wills, but only one Person. So He can operate as God and He can operate as man. And in the perfection of the union of one Person, these two natures did not interfere with one another at all. They remained completely separate and unimpaired; they did not in any way interfere with one another’s working. But He was able, as only God could, to operate on two different levels in the perfect unity of one single Person. That is what we celebrate today: the feast of God becoming man, the feast of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ at the Annunciation. 

And thanks be to God for our Blessed Lady, who, even though it did not make sense to her how she could conceive as a virgin, was willing to say “yes” so that the Holy Spirit, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son, would have an opportunity to become life-giving in our Blessed Lady, so that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, from Whom the Holy Spirit proceeds, would now be conceived in the womb of Our Lady through the power of the Holy Spirit.  

This is an astounding thing, and it is something which we will meditate upon for the rest of eternity, assuming that we go the right direction. There will be no end to the meditation on the Incarnation because it is an absolute mystery, one which we will never be able to understand even in heaven. We can grasp parts of it, but because it deals with the Divine nature itself, we will never come to the end of it. The wonderful part, if you just want to ponder this one for awhile, is that even in His humanity Jesus does not understand the Incarnation perfectly. In His Divinity, He does; in His humanity, He does not. And so for all eternity, because it is an infinite mystery and His human nature is finite, He too will ponder this mystery of the Incarnation in His human nature, in His human mind, and will never understand it completely. In His Divinity, of course, He understands it fully and perfectly. So, for all eternity, we will be able to look at Jesus and we will never come to the end. There will always be more. 

We can start now to place ourselves in front of the Blessed Sacrament, to look at Him Who is both God and man, and to meditate upon this mystery of our salvation, that mystery which began in the most full way at the moment of the Annunciation, when, thanks be to God, the grace was given to Our Lady to accept the humility of God and to say “yes” so that He would be conceived in her womb and we would be saved.

*  This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Monday, April 04, 2005 Meditation Luke 1:26-38 The Annunciation of the Lord A lot of people seem to be looking for secrets to help them achieve their goals in life. Bookstores carry a wide array of self-help publications. Radio and television talk shows remain popular as guests and listeners continue the search for success. Everyone seems to be searching. However, once we decide to seek God’s will in our lives, we don’t have to look too far for good advice. Scripture is filled with models of faith and discernment, and no model could be greater than the Virgin Mary. Luke describes four responses Mary gave to the angel’s invitation to become the Mother of God. First, she was troubled. Then she pondered what his words meant. Then she asked honest, sincere questions. Finally, she gave her “fiat,” or consent to God’s will. What a remarkable pattern we all can follow as we face difficult or challenging situations where we need to discern God’s will. Life is full of disturbing situations, and as Mary shows us, there is nothing wrong with being troubled or worried by what we think God is placing before us. Like the Blessed Mother, we too can take our challenges to prayer to see how these situations can help us grow in knowing God better and in following him more faithfully. Imagine, for instance, what might have happened if Mary had not taken the time—or had the courage—to ponder the angel’s words and ask him questions. It’s possible she would have been tempted to quit at the first sign of trouble. But because she pressed on—day after day, long after the angel’s visit—she was far better equipped to embrace her role, even when it put her family in danger. Pondering God’s call means that we meditate and dwell on the words of Scripture each day. It means trying to fix our eyes on Jesus in prayer so that we can hear his still, small voice. It means asking, seeking, and knocking on heaven’s door so that we can be filled with God’s wisdom and grace. In prayer today, let’s ask Mary to intercede for us. Let’s ask her to ask our Father to give us the same openness to his Spirit that she had throughout her life. “Lord, because you have chosen me, I want to echo Mary’s faithful response. Be it done to me according to your word.”  Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10; Psalm 40:7-11; Hebrews 10:4-10

[Salvation]

One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

 

<< Monday, April 4, 2005 >>

Annunciation

Isaiah 7:10-14
Hebrews 10:4-10

Psalm 40
Luke 1:26-38

View Readings

“WITH HIM”

“The Lord is with you.” —Luke 1:28

Love songs of all cultures express the desires of a lover who yearns to be with the beloved, no matter what it takes. Likewise, it wasn’t enough for Jesus to love us from heaven. Whatever it took, He just had to be with us. Jesus took on human flesh so He could be with us (Jn 1:14). Jesus’ very name is “Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God is with us’ ” (Mt 1:23). Even if He had to die for our sins, even if He had to suffer in His humanity, He loved us so much that He willingly paid the price so He could be with us and thus save us (Heb 10:10). If being with us meant being nailed to a cross, then Jesus chose the nails (see Rm 5:8).

Jesus, Who is Love Incarnate (1 Jn 4:8), is with us. When we give our lives to Jesus, we join with Him and we are now in Love, because we are with Jesus. Being so in love with Jesus, we always want to be with Him, even if that means forgiving enemies, standing at the foot of the cross, being mocked, persecuted, impoverished, insulted, accused of hating God, or even put to death. None of these inconveniences can distract us from the joy of being with Him (cf Ps 84:11).

Jesus so desires being with us (Lk 22:15) that He gives us His eucharistic body so He can be within us (Jn 6:56; 17:23). At each Mass, we offer our lives to God “through Him, with Him, and in Him.” Jesus says: “Know that I am with you always” (Mt 28:20). Therefore, on this feast of Jesus’ Incarnation, be with Jesus always. “Rejoice...The Lord is with you”! (Lk 1:28)

Prayer: Jesus, I love You and I fix my eyes on You (Heb 3:1). May I never leave Your side. You are my Delight and my Love.

Promise: “Nothing is impossible with God.” —Lk 1:37

Praise: Praise You, Jesus, the Word made flesh! (Jn 1:14) “I rejoice heartily in” You, the Living Word (Is 61:10). Alleluia!

[annalex]

Lk 1:26-38
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
26	And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth,	in mense autem sexto missus est angelus Gabrihel a Deo in civitatem Galilaeae cui nomen Nazareth
27	To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David: and the virgin's name was Mary.	ad virginem desponsatam viro cui nomen erat Ioseph de domo David et nomen virginis Maria
28	And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.	et ingressus angelus ad eam dixit have gratia plena Dominus tecum benedicta tu in mulieribus
29	Who having heard, was troubled at his saying and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.	quae cum vidisset turbata est in sermone eius et cogitabat qualis esset ista salutatio
30	And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.	et ait angelus ei ne timeas Maria invenisti enim gratiam apud Deum
31	Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus.	ecce concipies in utero et paries filium et vocabis nomen eius Iesum
32	He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.	hic erit magnus et Filius Altissimi vocabitur et dabit illi Dominus Deus sedem David patris eius
33	And of his kingdom there shall be no end.	et regnabit in domo Iacob in aeternum et regni eius non erit finis
34	And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?	dixit autem Maria ad angelum quomodo fiet istud quoniam virum non cognosco
35	And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.	et respondens angelus dixit ei Spiritus Sanctus superveniet in te et virtus Altissimi obumbrabit tibi ideoque et quod nascetur sanctum vocabitur Filius Dei
36	And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren.	et ecce Elisabeth cognata tua et ipsa concepit filium in senecta sua et hic mensis est sextus illi quae vocatur sterilis
37	Because no word shall be impossible with God.	quia non erit inpossibile apud Deum omne verbum
38	And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.	dixit autem Maria ecce ancilla Domini fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum et discessit ab illa angelus

(*) vv 32-33 breakdown differs.