Texts taken from the Missalette “On Your Word” March-April 2024

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 this sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, because God is with us.” – The word of God.

Reflection on the first reading

We find ourselves in a context of war. Ahaz is king of Judea and is fighting against invaders. Through the prophet Isaiah, God tells King Ahaz not to be afraid, because he will protect them, and to assure him of this, he is even willing to grant him a sure sign. The sign is proof and assurance; it encourages and comforts. Unexpectedly, the king refuses to rely on divine reassurance, as if to say: “If God wills it, he will intervene, but I do not need signs, because I can win the war on my own.” In reality, he then allied himself with the Assyrians, opening the way to the ruin of the kingdom of Judah… But the Lord still wished to give a sign, one that far surpassed the historical perspective of that moment. God intervenes even when man rejects him. The stubbornness of King Ahaz shocks us, but King Herod acted no differently at the time of Jesus’ birth. It is indeed true that the world lies in the power of the evil one (1 Jn 5:19), but it is also true that God continually intervenes to guide mankind’s journey. God reigns, and it is the humble who welcome him and allow themselves to be led.

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, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you desired not, but a body you prepared for me. In burnt offerings and sin offerings you took no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come – as it is written of me in the scroll of the book – to do your will, O God.’” After saying, “You neither desired nor delighted in sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings,” which are offered according to the law, he then says, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” Thus he abolishes 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.

Reflection on the second reading

The entire Old Testament prepares for the coming into the world, the incarnation of the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ. The ancient animal sacrifices, with their flowing blood, signifying the forgiveness of sins, are now fulfilled in a human person, Jesus, who is conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, but in a sublime way, since he is God. God becomes flesh, something unacceptable to religious philosophy, which does not admit imperfections in God. But God overturns our way of thinking, because love has no logic, or rather, it has a logic all its own: that of self-giving, of life in the other and for the sake of the other. God takes on a body, and this brings all time to a standstill, because there can never be an event more important than this until the end of the world. From that moment on, all people of every age have to do with that Body, which is loved and adored, or rejected without cease. But one does not enter into the beatitude of God by disregarding the fleshly Body of God, Jesus, the obedient one who lives his coming into the world for me, for you, for everyone.  

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Luke (Lk 1:26-38)
At that time, 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. 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 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.

Reflection on the Gospel of the day

The coming of the Messiah into the world was expected; it was not an absolute surprise. There were Daniel’s prophecies, the times had been calculated, and even the pagan Magi had some awareness of it. But no one expected this Messiah to be God himself, that is, that the divine nature of the Word would assume human nature. To open the gates of heaven for us, to raise us to eternal life, God had to descend. “God became man so that man might become God,” wrote the ancient Church Father Hippolytus of Rome. We could not reach God if he had not descended to us in the most unimaginable way, entering the virginal womb of Mary Most Holy and living through every stage of human life. God desires the salvation of all, and for this reason he endures every trial and humiliation, associating his beloved creature, the Virgin Mary, with himself in everything. He begins by becoming so small as to be an embryo (yes, indeed) of just a few cells. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus was overwhelmed by this mystery and said that she loved to adore Jesus in his majesty, but even more when she imagined him as a one-millimeter child in the Virgin’s womb: all of God was enclosed in that embryonic child…