COLLECT: “O GOD, WHO WILLED THAT YOUR WORD SHOULD TAKE ON THE REALITY OF HUMAN FLESH IN THE WOMB OF THE VIRGIN MARY, GRANT, WE PRAY, THAT WE, WHO CONFESS OUR REDEEMER TO BE GOD AND MAN, MAY MERIT TO BECOME EVEN IN HIS DIVINE NATURE. WHO LIVES AND REIGNS WITH YOU IN THE UNITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, GOD, FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN”.
Is 7:10-14; 8:10; Ps 39:7-11; Heb 10:4-10; Lk 1:26-38.
Today we celebrate a very important feast in the Catholic Church, known as the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. This feast celebrates the mystery of the Incarnation, when God became man to fulfil His plan of redeeming sinful humanity. We celebrate the entrance of God into our human family: God is with us, the Emmanuel. This feast also marks the beginning of our salvation, yes, the salvation of sinful humanity.
All the scriptures we reflect on today focus on the person and mission of Jesus, the Son of God. The portion we reflect on, in the Book of Isaiah 7:10-14;8:10, is when King Ahaz ‘religiously’ turned down the Lord’s request to him to ask for a sign. Ahaz thought he would be bothering the Lord. All the same, the Lord through the Prophet Isaiah promised to give a sign which is: “the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us’”. The portion from the Letter to the Hebrews 10:4-10, tells us something about Jesus coming to do the will of God his Father. God prefers and desires obedience to ‘sacrifices, offerings, holocausts and sin-offerings’. In his mission, Jesus obeyed his Father till the end. Finally, the portion of Luke’s gospel (1:26-38) we reflect on, is about the angel Gabriel appearing to Mary with the joyful news that the Holy Spirit will come upon her, and the power of the Most High will overshadow her and she will conceive and bear a son whose name shall be Jesus. This is the fulfilment of the sign the Lord promised to give to Israel in the above passage of Isaiah.
We learn a lot from this celebration. In the first place, genuine obedience (not false or hypocritical obedience) pays. When we genuinely obey to do what is expected of us despite the consequences, we please God, and his blessings come upon people through our obedience. Obedience also goes with co-operation. In obeying what the angel told her, Mary cooperated with God for his will to be done. Is obedience not better than sacrifice?
Another lesson we learn today is that generally, in life and in making decisions or choices, there are times we are at crossroads. Sometimes it is not easy to decide or to make a choice. When at such crossed roads we should not be like King Ahaz who thought he would be a bother if he asked God for a sign. We should rather be like Mary who gave her consent to God and declared that “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word”.
Let us thank our Lord Jesus, who humbly obeyed to do the Father’s will by accepting to become one like us, who suffered, died and rose from the dead for our redemption. We also thank our Mother Mary for cooperating with God to execute his plan and will for our salvation. May we learn to obey and co-operate with God to carry out his will on earth. Happy feast of the Annunciation and stay blessed.
WE MEDITATE TODAY, WEDNESDAY, ON THE GLORIOUS MYSTERIES: ‘THE RESURRECTION, THE ASCENSION, THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE ASSUMPTION, AND THE CORONATION’. (WE PRAY FOR FAITH, HOPE, LOVE OF GOD, GRACE OF A HAPPY DEATH AND TRUST IN MARY’S INTERCESSION) “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen”.
PRAYER: “CONFIRM IN OUR MINDS THE MYSTERIES OF THE TRUE FAITH, WE PRAY, O LORD, SO THAT, CONFESSING THAT HE WHO WAS CONCEIVED OF THE VIRGIN MARY IS TRUE GOD AND TRUE MAN, WE MAY, THROUGH THE SAVING POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION, MERIT TO ATTAIN ETERNAL LIFE. THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD. AMEN”.
Rev. Fr. Aloysius Kpiebaya, Catholic Diocese of Wa, UW/R, Ghana. (00233) 0207867239/0545462863. Email: aloybaya20@yahoo.com
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