12 December 2011

12 Dec 2011, Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Reading 1 Zec 2:14-17

Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!
See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.
Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,
and they shall be his people,
and he will dwell among you,
and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,
and he will again choose Jerusalem.
Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD!
For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling.

Or Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab

God's temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.
Then another sign appeared in the sky;
it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns,
and on its heads were seven diadems.
Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky
and hurled them down to the earth.
Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth,
to devour her child when she gave birth.
She gave birth to a son, a male child,
destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.
Her child was caught up to God and his throne.
The woman herself fled into the desert
where she had a place prepared by God.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed."

Responsorial Psalm Jdt 13:18bcde, 19

R. (15:9d) You are the highest honor of our race.
Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God,
above all the women on earth;
and blessed be the LORD God,
the creator of heaven and earth.
R. You are the highest honor of our race.
Your deed of hope will never be forgotten
by those who tell of the might of God.
R. You are the highest honor of our race.

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.

Or Lk 1:39-47

Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
"Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled."

And Mary said:

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior."

Meditation: Luke 1:26-38

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Our Lady of Guadalupe

The angel Gabriel was sent from God. (Luke 1:26)

In December 1531, the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego, a poor Indian farmer in Mexico, and caused an image of herself to be imprinted on his outer garment, or tilma. News of this visit from Mary spread like wildfire, and people from all over came to believe in Jesus. The old pagan religion of the Aztecs—with its horrific practice of ritual child sacrifice—gave way to the freedom and dignity of the gospel. In just a few short years, the Spanish mis­sionaries there were overwhelmed by millions of converts.

On a feast that honors the Virgin Mary, it makes sense that we would read a passage like today’s story of the Annunciation. But there’s more to this reading than just a pleasant recollection of Mary. Like the story of Juan Diego, this passage shows how God is committed to fight­ing spiritual battles on behalf of his people. It could be on a cosmic scale, as the Incarnation, or it could be in an area of the world (colonial Mexico) that desperately needs to hear about his grace and mercy.

Today’s feast tells us that God is at work all the time, and that Mary is a constant partner in his work. It tells us that miraculous inter­ventions are not limited to biblical times or to the lives of a few saintly people in the Middle Ages. God is always at work in the world, always finding new ways to draw people to himself. If he’s not sending Mary to reveal the gospel to Mexican people in the sixteenth century or send­ing her to give words of comfort and warning to a group of Rwan­dan schoolgirls in the 1980s, he is sending her to three children in Por­tugal asking them to pray for the conversion of Russia. Time after time, when God invited Mary to play an important role in his plans, she said: “I am the handmaid of the Lord.” And she did his will.

So let’s honor God today for the way he continues to intervene in the lives of his people. Let’s also honor Mary for the way she continues to fulfill God’s plan. From her first “yes” to God in Nazareth, she has always been our mother in faith.

“Holy Mary, Mother of God and our mother as well—please pray for us and lead us closer to your son!”

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