Texts taken from the Missal “On Your Word” November-December 2022

Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (feast)
proper

FIRST READING

From the Book of Genesis (Gen 3:9-15, 20)
[After the man had eaten of the fruit of the tree,] the Lord God called to him and said: “Where are you?” He answered: “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” Then he asked: “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat?” The man replied: “The woman whom you put here with me - she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it.” The Lord God then asked the woman: “What have you done?” The woman answered: “The serpent tricked me, so I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all the animals, tame or wild! On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.” The man called his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. - The Word of the Lord.

Commentary on the first reading

This question that God asks the man always leaves me breathless: “Where are you?” It is the first question we find in the Bible. Until this moment there had only been monologues; now a dialogical relationship begins. “Where are you?” has all the force and power to make you return to yourself, understand where in the world you have anchored your life, and make your position explicit. Life needs a place in which to unfold and develop all its potential. Until this moment, that place had been perfect communion with the Father. In the garden of Eden, God and man walked together. Suddenly, an intruder places a doubt in the man’s heart, not so much about whether the fruit of the tree, which God had forbidden him to eat, was good or not, but about the goodness of God himself. The devil presents a God who is not the true God, a God who forbids everything, and the man falls into this terrible trap. “Why do doubts arise in your hearts?” (Lk 24:38b), Jesus will ask once he has risen. “Where are you?” the Lord asks me and you today.

SECOND READING

From the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians (Eph 1:3-6, 11-12)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. - The Word of the Lord.

Commentary on the second reading

We are not the product of chance, nor of biology alone. We are not the inevitable outcome of a life that began before us and will continue after us, despite or thanks to us. No. Each one of us is the concrete expression of the Father’s love. Just as Jesus is the incarnation of the Word who was with God and was God himself, so we are the incarnation of God’s love. We exist because God has always thought of us, loved us, and wanted us. I am the flesh of the Father’s love: if we could always keep this great truth in mind, there would no longer be room within us or in the world for hatred, wickedness, war, or hunger. I am in the world to bear witness to love. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux understood this well when she wrote: “In the heart of the Church, I will be love.” A Church that far surpasses the boundaries of the Church. Saint Augustine, who understood more than we do and had lived the universal dimension of the Church more fully than we have, speaks of an “Ecclesia ab Abel,” a Church that begins with Abel.

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 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, favored one! 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 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. - The Word of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

How many times have we heard this passage? This constant repetition in the liturgy can create a certain familiarity in us that sometimes borders on indifference. We no longer expect anything from this account; we have, as it were, become immune to it. And yet, if it is true that the word of God is always good news for my life, every time it is given to me, it cannot fail to stir my heart. After all, I am being told about the irruption of God’s great plan into entirely human, even ordinary, circumstances. A messenger of God goes to a remote town in Galilee, a town never mentioned before in all of Sacred Scripture, and addresses a young girl, Miryam, informing her of the Father’s desire. To enter the world, the Infinite asks permission from a person who is weak and finite. God wanted to need human beings in order to make us understand how great a love he has for us. He could have done everything alone, yet instead he lowers himself toward one of his creatures and gently asks for hospitality and openness. Jesus would make this clearer in the Book of Revelation: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock” (3:20). Which of us is willing to open the door of their life?