Sunday Scripture Readings Discussion - 12/18/05

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Let us all strive to be like Mary and say, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
 
Father Larry Richards’ has a homily on these Readings. He says
"…Living a “Christian”, life is not what it is about to be a follower or disciple of Christ. Christianity is not a set of moral norms by which I live my life. That’s just not what it’s about. (Oh, that wasn’t very Christian.) That’s not what Christianity is about. Christianity is about letting God, in the person of Jesus Christ be alive and make his home in my life, and He lives the Christian life, if you will, through me. It’s not about me living a set of moral guidelines or principles. And see, that’s the problem with too many Catholics. They think, “I’m a good person…I’m living a good life.” That’s not what it is to be a follower of Jesus. It’s about letting Jesus live inside of me, and letting Him have total control of every, every, every part of my life. So simple. And yet, it is not what most people mean when they talk about being a Christian.
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And yet, Mary is our example. And I think to truly become holy, to truly make God’s home within us we need to do three things, huh? The first thing is that we have to be open to the way God comes to us. The second thing is that we have to be real, huh? The third thing is that we have to obey…
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Read more here…stjoesbol.org//Homilies/2002/12-22-02%20%20Father%20Larry.htm
 
When I read this Gospel reading, it seems like the events it describes happened so fast. As you read it, it only takes a couple of minutes to read and it is so easy to pass over the rich details it contains. When you consider that we are talking about the most momentous event that ever happened --the God of the Universe taking on the flesh of one of his creatures in order to save them— it hardly seems enough.

One of the good things about this being one of the Mysteries of the Rosary is that it forces you to linger over this scene. I always imagine it really unfolded over a longer period of time than it appears.
 
Here’s what Edward Sri says about it:
The mystery of Christ begins in the quiet life of a young Jewish woman who seems to be rather ordinary. She is a virgin in her early teens betrothed to a man named Joseph. She lives in a tiny village called Nazareth. Her name is Mary. Suddenly, in the midst of her simple, routine life an amazing event occurs: An angel of the Lord appears to her and says, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” (Lk. 1:28) No angel has ever greeted anyone with such exalted language. Gabriel addresses Mary not by her personal name but with a title, “full of grace.” As John Paul II comments, “’Full of grace*’ is the name Mary possesses in the eyes of God.”*

In Greek the word commonly translated “full of grace” (Kecharitomene) indicates that Mary was already filled with God’s saving grace. Chosen from the beginning of time to be the mother of the Savior, Mary has been prepared by God to be a pure, spotless sanctuary in which His Son would dwell. Now the all-holy Son of God will enter the world through the womb of a woman who is “full of grace”.

“The Lord is with you!” For many Catholics these words might seem like a routine response said at Mass. However, for a Jewish woman of Mary’s times, hearing “The Lord is with you!” would signal that she is called to play a crucial role in God’s plan of salvation. In the Old Testament this phrase often was used when someone was being called for a special mission. For example, when Moses was called to lead the people out of Egypt, God told him, “I will be with you.” When Joshua was called to lead Israel into the Promised Land, God said to him, “I will be with you.” When David was called to lead the kingdom he was told that the Lord would be with them. In each case the person was to take on a difficult task with many risks and challenges. While they may not have felt ready for the job, they were given the one thing they needed most to carry out the task: The Lord would be with them.

God is asking a lot of Mary. She is told that she will be expecting a child. That He will be Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. Then she discovers that her child will be the divine Son of God. And finally she is told that she will conceive of this child as a virgin through the Holy Spirit of God. What is Mary’s answer? All the angels and saints of the Old Testament are said to be holding their breaths as Mary answers, “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Lk. 1:38). John Paul II has pointed out that Mary’s language (“let it be to me”) indicates not a passive acceptance but an active embracing of God’s will in her life. As such, Mary’s “yes” serves as a model of faith for all believers.

We Catholics sometimes submit to the Lord’s will begrudgingly, as if it were something burdensome - a sacrifice we must make for the kingdom of God. However, as we grow as God’s children, we begin to realize that his plan for our lives always corresponds to our heart’s deepest longing, to what will truly bring us fulfillment. Though at times very demanding and involving great sacrifices, God’s will is not simply an ethical test we must pass or an external code of behaviour to which we must submit. Ultimately, God’s will is written on our hearts and is meant to lead us to a profound peace and happiness, even in the face of trials and sufferings.

May we, like Mary, actively desire God’s will to be fulfilled in our lives. May we joyfully embrace his plan for us, not simply as a religious rule to obey but ultimately, as the divine pathway to our hearts’ deepest and most noble desires.

Notworthy
 
Thank you Notworthy for pointing out those versus in the Gospel reading which are found elsewhere in the Bible. One of the realizations which revolutionized my Bible readings was that there are parallels between the O.T. and the N.T. That in itself has made the Scriptures more alive and exciting for me.

I always like to continue reading on in Chapter 1 to the Magnificat. The words which Mary says in Ch. 1:46-55 are humble yet powerful; they further reinforce that she had totally given of herself to God and help us understand the results of that total self giving. They are beautiful words which reflect a beautiful heart.

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…”

"Be it done unto me according to your word."
 
Here is the Haydock DRV Commentary on this Sunday’s Gospel:

Ver. 27. The word Miriam, or Mary, is expounded by St. Jerome from different etymologies, to signify in Hebrew, star of the sea, and in Chaldaic, lady. Both interpretations admirably well agree with her, who is the glorious Queen of heaven, our patroness and star, to direct us in the stormy ocean of this world. — “O you,” cries out St. Bernard, “who find yourselves tossed to and fro in this tempestuous life, turn not your eyes away from the brightness of this star, if you would not be overwhelmed in these storms. If the winds of temptations arise; if you fall among the rocks of tribulation; look up to the star, call upon Mary. If your are agitated, and hard driven with the surges of pride, ambition, detraction, jealously, or envy; look up to the star, call upon Mary. If anger, covetousness, or lust, beat furiously on the vessel of your soul; look up to the star, call upon Mary. If you are beginning to founder, and are just sinking into the gulf of melancholy and despair; think on Mary. In dangers, in distresses, in perplexities, think on Mary, call on Mary. Let her name be never absent from your mouth; from your mouth let it constantly descend into your heart; and, that you may obtain the suffrage of her prayers; both in life and death, never depart from the example of her pious conversation.” (St. Bernard, hom. ii. super Missus est.)

Ver. 28. Hail, full of grace:[5] by the greatest share of divine graces granted to any creature. This translation, approved by the ancient Fathers, agrees with the ancient Syriac and Arabic versions. There was no need therefore to change it into gracious, with Erasmus; into freely beloved, with Beza; into highly favoured, with the Protestant translators. For if seven deacons (Acts vi. 3.) are said to be full of the Holy Ghost, as it is again said of St. Stephen, (Acts vii. 55.) and also of the same St. Stephen, (Acts vi. ver. 8.) that he was full of grace, (as the learned Dr. Wells translates it in his amendments made to the Protestant translation) why should any one be offended at this salutation given to the blessed mother of God; who would not have been raised to this highest dignity, had not her soul been first prepared for it by the greatest share of divine graces? — The Lord is with thee, by his interior graces; and now, at this moment, is about to confer upon thee the highest of all dignities, by making thee truly the mother of God. (Witham) — The Catholic Church makes frequent use of these words which were brought by the archangel from heaven, as well to honour Jesus Christ and his virgin Mother, as because they were the first glad tidings of Christ’s incarnation, and man’s salvation; and are the very abridgment and sum of the whole gospel. In the Greek Church, they are used daily in the Mass [the Divine Liturgy]. See the Liturgy of St. James, and that of St. Chrysostom.

Ver. 29. When she had heard. In the Greek text, when she had seen; as if she also saw the angel, as St. Ambrose observed. (Witham)

Ver. 31. It may perhaps in the first instance of reflection, appear shocking to our ideas, that a God should dwell in a human body; but does not the sun emit its rays into all kinds of places, without any detriment of its purity? How much more would the Sun of justice, assuming a most pure body, formed of the purest blood of the spotless Virgin, not only remain free from every the least stain himself, but even impart additional sanctity to his virgin Mother. (St. Thomas Aquinas)

Ver. 32. He … shall be called; i.e. according to the style of the Scriptures, he shall truly be the Son of God. (Witham)

Ver. 33. Those are here called of the house of Jacob, who out of the multitude of the Jews believed in Christ. This is conformable to that text of St. Paul: All are not Israelites that are of Israel, but the children of the promise are accounted for the seed. (Romans ix. 6, 8.) (St. Chrysostom, hom. vii. on S. Matt.) — And of his kingdom there shall be no end: which clearly shews it was not to be a temporal, but a spiritual and an eternal kingdom. (Witham)

(continued)
 
Ver. 34. How shall this be done? She only asks about the manner. — Because I know not man.[6] This answer, as St. Augustine takes notice, would have been to no purpose, had she not made a vow to God to live always a virgin. (Witham) — Listen to the words of this pure Virgin. The angel tells her she shall conceive; but she insists upon her virginity, holding her purity in higher estimation than the promised dignity. (St. Gregory of Nyssa.) — She did not doubt the truth of what the angel said, (as Calvin impiously maintained) but she wished it might not happen to the prejudice of her vowed virginity. (St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, Ven. Bede, Theophylactus, &c. &c.)

Ver. 35. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, &c. By the divine power thou shalt bring forth, and yet remain always a pure virgin. — And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee, shall be called (shall be) the Son of God. The second person of the ever blessed Trinity, being united to our human nature, remaining unchangeably the same God, and being born of the Virgin Mary; it must needs be true to say that God was born, that God suffered and died for us; and consequently that the blessed Virgin Mary was truly the mother of God, or of him that is truly God; though not the mother of the Godhead: as the Catholic Church declared in the council of Ephesus, (431) against the heretic Nestorius. (Witham) — Seek not for natural order in things that transcend nature. You ask, how shall this be done, since you know not man? This, your ignorance of man, is the very reason why this will take place within you. For had you not been pure, you never would have been deemed worthy of so great a mystery. Not because marriage is bad, but because virginity is far more excellent. The common Lord of all ought in his birth to have something common with all mankind, and still something different. He was conceived and born in the womb like the rest of mankind, but he differed from them in being born of a virgin. (St. Chrysostom, xlix. in Genes.)

Ver. 36. We find that Aaron, who was of the tribe of Levi, took a wife of the tribe of Juda, viz. Elizabeth, the sister of Naasson. In the successors of David we find that Joiada, the chief priest, took a wife of the family of David, viz. the daughter of Joram; from which it appears that both the royal and sacerdotal tribes were united, and that Mary and Elizabeth were relatives. It was certainly proper that Christ should be born of both these tribes, because he was in himself both king and priest. (Ven. Bede)

Ver. 38. Behold the handmaid. With all modesty and humility of heart and mind, the blessed Virgin consented to the divine will: and from that moment in her was conceived the Saviour and Redeemer of the world. (Witham) — Thus ought the virgin, who brought forth meekness and humility itself, to shew forth an example of the most profound humility. (St. Ambrose)

haydock1859.tripod.com/id65.html
 
I like to listen to Fr. Barron’s reflections at The Word On Fire: wordonfire.org/, which is also broadcast on Relevant Radio: relevantradio.com/docs/index.asp.

Tip: Since we’re on a 3-year cycle, if you like to listen to a reflection a few days in advance, go to the archives for 2003 for next year’s readings.
 
I would like to comment on the first reading, which in my studies was referred to as the “messianic promise” by Nathan the prophet.

“The Lord also reveals to you that He will establish a house for you … Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.”

When I visited the Holy Land, I was struck by the symbolic order of the Upper Room where Jesus celebrated the Last Supper, being above the room which contained the tomb of David. We know from the scriptures that Jesus specifically chose this room and asked the disciples to go to the owner and make preparations for the Passover to be celebrated there.

It is so typical of God to use hidden symbolism, so I prayed that I might understand why this room was chosen over any other. What blessing to realize that celebration in the upper room silently, wondrously proclaimed the fulfillment of the messianic promise made to David. Being inaugurated in the “upper” room, it would now replace the older, “lower” covenant below.

Every time I read this scripture from today’s first reading, I am filled with awe and rejoicing. I just wanted to share the blessing with all of you. It is so appropriate for Advent, because the beginning of its fulfillment began with Mary and the Incarnation.

Carole
 
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milimac:
I like to listen to Fr. Barron’s reflections at The Word On Fire: wordonfire.org/, which is also broadcast on Relevant Radio: relevantradio.com/docs/index.asp.

Tip: Since we’re on a 3-year cycle, if you like to listen to a reflection a few days in advance, go to the archives for 2003 for next year’s readings.
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Thanks for the links milimac. I’ll have to make time to listen to fr. Barron.
 
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Joysong:
I would like to comment on the first reading, which in my studies was referred to as the “messianic promise” by Nathan the prophet.

“The Lord also reveals to you that He will establish a house for you … Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.”

When I visited the Holy Land, I was struck by the symbolic order of the Upper Room where Jesus celebrated the Last Supper, being above the room which contained the tomb of David. We know from the scriptures that Jesus specifically chose this room and asked the disciples to go to the owner and make preparations for the Passover to be celebrated there.

It is so typical of God to use hidden symbolism, so I prayed that I might understand why this room was chosen over any other. What blessing to realize that celebration in the upper room silently, wondrously proclaimed the fulfillment of the messianic promise made to David. Being inaugurated in the “upper” room, it would now replace the older, “lower” covenant below.

Every time I read this scripture from today’s first reading, I am filled with awe and rejoicing. I just wanted to share the blessing with all of you. It is so appropriate for Advent, because the beginning of its fulfillment began with Mary and the Incarnation.

Carole
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I was going to make my own comments here Carole; however, your comments are so very interesting that I think I’ll take some time out to reflect on them. Thanks for the post. I love discovering new treasures in the Bible.
 
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