Texts taken from the Missal “On Your Word” March-April 2022

Annunciation of the Lord (feast)
proper

FIRST READING

From the book of the prophet Isaiah (Is 7:10-14; 8:10c)
In those days, the Lord spoke to Ahaz: “Ask for a sign from the Lord your God, from the depths of the netherworld or from the heights above.” But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!” Then Isaiah said: “Listen, 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 a sign. Behold: the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, because God is with us.” – The word of God.

Commentary on the first reading

King Ahaz is in despair: the city of Jerusalem is under siege and is about to fall to the imposing armies of the king of Assyria. But God, as usual, is ready to intervene and rout the troops that want to profane the sacred temple. He demands an act of trust from the king, through the request for a sign, so that everyone may believe that, when that sign comes to pass, victory will be assured. But, surprisingly, the king becomes indignant and does not want to give this testimony of trust, out of pride or fear… He closes in on himself, as if there were nothing left to do, and prepares for a disheartening surrender. But even if the king wants to forget the power of the Lord, God intervenes, causing a son to be born immediately, who is the guarantee of survival for the besieged people, and a son of the Virgin Mary when the time is ripe. From a painful historical event, God announces a unique event: the holy Virgin “prepares” to bring the Savior Jesus into the world when, in her virginity, she conceives and gives birth to him for us.

SECOND READING

From the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 10:4-10)

Brothers and sisters, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. For this reason, on coming into the world, Christ says: “Sacrifice and offering you desired not, but a body you prepared for me. Holocausts and sin offerings you sought not. Then I said, ‘Behold, I come – as it is written of me in the scroll of the book – to do your will, O God.’” First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in,” offerings made according to the law. Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.” He takes away the first covenant to establish the second. By this “will,” we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. – The word of God.

Commentary on the second reading

On the solemnity of the Annunciation, the liturgy gives us a text that exalts Christ’s humanity, that is, his body, made of flesh, bones, and muscles like ours, that same body he receives from the Virgin Mary. If Jesus’ person is spiritualized too much, we lose sight of the miracle of God’s divinity poured entirely into a human body. The Virgin Mary carries him in her womb, feels him moving within her, as all mothers do, caresses him with her own hands, and adores him as she contemplates him. According to many Fathers of the Church, it is precisely Christ’s humanity that is the origin of Lucifer’s sin, transforming him into Satan: he refuses to adore God not so much in himself, but God in Christ’s human body, since he - the angel - is superior in nature to human beings. “A body you prepared for me,” says the Letter to the Hebrews. Let us meditate on Jesus’ humanity, let us bow down, as Holy Mary did, and adore the human body of God, in which “the entire fullness of divinity dwells” (Col 2:9). It is the same body that suffered so much for us. How could we not adore it?

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Luke (Lk 1:26-38)
In that time, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 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 reign 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, “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 holy; he will be called 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. – The Gospel of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

Let us begin at the end. “The angel departed from her.” It seems like a useless verse, but let us think about it for a moment. Everything happens suddenly, in a few minutes: the angel arrives, announces the message, and Our Lady responds. Then the angel leaves. What happens when the heavenly messenger departs? The Virgin Mary is pregnant! Certainly, she had not expected it half an hour earlier. The minute after the Annunciation is the one that determines the entire spiritual journey of Holy Mary. No woman had ever been the “Mother of God.” There were no precedents; she could not compare herself with anyone, because her was a unique and unrepeatable condition. The next minute, Mary finds herself immersed in the luminous ocean of divinity, while at the same time she must continue doing the things she has always done. Everything is the same, and everything has changed. That mysterious and profound, tender and ineffable dialogue begins between Our Lady and the divine child. From that moment on, Holy Mary is the “Theotokos,” the one who bears God, the “spiritual vessel” that contains the Eternal One. The fact that she remains a simple and poor housewife in the eyes of the world reveals all her greatness. Today we look at Holy Mary, full of wonder and blessedness, and rejoice with her!