Reading 1GN 3:9-15, 20 After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the LORD God called to the man and asked him, "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? You have eaten, then, 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, and so I ate it." The LORD God then asked the woman, "Why did you do such a thing?" The woman answered, "The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it."
Then the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; 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 became the mother of all the living.
Responsorial Psalm PS 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4 R. (1) Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds. Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds; His right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds. The LORD has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice. He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; break into song; sing praise. R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
Reading 2 EPH 1:3-6, 11-12 Brothers and sisters: 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.
Alleluia SEE LK 1:28 R. Alleluia, alleluia. Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women. R. Alleluia, alleluia.
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.
The words of the Popes “Nothing is impossible for God...” (Luke 1:37). Only with the infinite power of love can we explain the fact that God the Word, God the Son, became man. Only with the inscrutable power of God's love can we explain the fact that the Virgin—the daughter of human parents—became the Mother of God. Yet this fact was incomprehensible to her: “How is this possible? I do not know man” (Luke 1:34). However, “nothing is impossible for God”! Since the omnipotence of the Eternal Father and the infinite power of love working with the power of the Holy Spirit cause the Son of God to become man in the womb of the Virgin of Nazareth, then the same power, in consideration of the merits of the Redeemer, preserves his Mother from the inheritance of original sin. “Nothing is impossible for God”! Let us reflect on the mystery of the Immaculate Conception. Listening to the living Word of God, which speaks to us from the depths of the first advent, let us face everything that the time of man and the world can bring us. Let us be united with the Woman par excellence, Mary. (St. John Paul II, Homily, 8 December 1981)
The Gospel of today's liturgy, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, takes us into her home in Nazareth, where she receives the angel's announcement (see Luke 1:26-38). Within the walls of her home, a person reveals themselves better than elsewhere. And precisely in that domestic intimacy, the Gospel gives us something that reveals the beauty of Mary's heart.
The angel calls her "full of grace." If she is full of grace, it means that Our Lady is free of evil, without sin, Immaculate. Now, at this greeting, Mary—the text says—is "greatly troubled" (Luke 1:29). She is not only surprised, but troubled. Receiving great greetings, honors, and compliments can sometimes risk giving rise to boastfulness and presumption. Let us remember that Jesus is not gentle with those who seek greetings in the marketplaces, flattery, and visibility (see Luke 20:46). Mary, on the other hand, is not exalted, but troubled; rather than feeling pleasure, she feels astonishment. The angel's greeting seems greater than she is. Why? Because she feels small inside, and this smallness, this humility, attracts God's gaze.
Within the walls of the house in Nazareth, we thus see a marvelous trait. What is Mary's heart like? Having received the highest of compliments, she is troubled because she feels that what she did not attribute to herself is being addressed to her. Mary, in fact, does not attribute prerogatives to herself, does not claim anything, does not ascribe anything to her own merit. She does not complacency, she does not exalt herself. Because in her humility, she knows she receives everything from God. She is therefore free from herself, completely turned towards God and others. Mary Immaculate has no eyes for herself. This is true humility: not having eyes for oneself, but for God and for others.
Let us remember that this perfection of Mary, full of grace, is declared by the angel within the walls of her home: not in the main square of Nazareth, but there, in seclusion, in the greatest humility. In that little house in Nazareth beat the greatest heart any creature has ever had. Dear brothers and sisters, this is extraordinary news for us! Because it tells us that the Lord, to work wonders, does not need great means and our sublime abilities, but our humility, our openness to Him and also to others. With that announcement, within the humble walls of a small home, God changed history. Even today, He desires to do great things with us in our daily lives: that is, in our families, at work, in our everyday environments. There, more than in the great events of history, God's grace loves to work. But, I wonder, do we believe it? Or do we think that holiness is a utopia, something for insiders, a pious illusion incompatible with ordinary life?
Let us ask Our Lady for a grace: that she free us from the misleading idea that the Gospel is one thing and life another; that she inflame us with enthusiasm for the ideal of holiness, which is not a matter of holy cards and prayer cards, but of living each day with humility and joy, like Our Lady, free from ourselves, with our eyes turned to God and the neighbor we encounter. Please, let us not lose heart: the Lord has given everyone the right fabric to weave holiness into daily life! And when we are assailed by doubts about our ability to do so, or by the sadness of our own inadequacy, let us allow ourselves to be looked upon by Our Lady's "merciful eyes," for no one who has asked for her help has ever been abandoned! (POPE Francis ANGELUS, December 8, 2021)
TONINO BELLO - Mary, a welcoming woman. This phrase is found in a Council text, and is splendid in its doctrine and conciseness. It says that, at the Angel's Annunciation, the Virgin Mary "welcomed the Word of God in her heart and body." In her heart and in her body. She was, that is, both disciple and mother of the Word. Disciple, because she listened to the Word and kept it forever in her heart. Mother, because she offered her womb to the Word and guarded it for nine months in the treasure chest of her body. St. Augustine dares to say that Mary was greater for having welcomed the Word in her heart than for having welcomed it in her womb. Perhaps, to fully understand the beauty of this truth, vocabulary is not enough. We must resort to visual expressions. And so there is nothing better than to refer to a famous Eastern icon, which depicts Mary with the divine Son Jesus inscribed on her chest. She is known as the Madonna of the sign, but could be called the Madonna of welcome, because with her forearms raised high, in an attitude of offering or surrender, she appears as a living symbol of the most gratuitous hospitality. She welcomed in her heart. That is, she made room in her thoughts for God's thoughts; but she did not feel reduced to silence. She willingly offered the virgin soil of her spirit to the germination of the Word; but she did not consider herself dispossessed of anything. She joyfully ceded to Him the most inviolable ground of her interior life, but without having to restrict the spaces of her freedom. She gave the Lord a permanent home in the most secret chambers of her soul; but she did not experience His presence as a violation of her domicile. She welcomed in her body. That is, she felt the physical weight of another being taking up residence in her mother's womb. She therefore adapted her rhythms to those of her guest. She modified her habits, in accordance with a task that certainly did not lighten her life. She devoted her days to gestating a creature who would spare her no worries or troubles. And since the blessed fruit of her womb was the Word of God who became incarnate for the salvation of humanity, she understood that she had contracted a debt of welcome with all of Eve's children, a debt she would repay with promissory notes of tears. She welcomed the Word of God into her heart and body. That fundamental hospitality speaks volumes about Mary's style, of whose thousand other welcomes the Gospel doesn't speak, but which it is not difficult for us to imagine. No one was ever rejected by her. And everyone found shelter under her shadow. From the neighbors to the old companions of Nazareth. From Joseph's relatives to his son's boyhood friends. From the poor of the neighborhood to the passing pilgrims. From Peter in tears after the betrayal to Judas, who perhaps couldn't find her at home that night... Holy Mary, welcoming woman, help us to welcome the Word into the depths of our hearts. To understand, as you did, God's intrusions into our lives. He doesn't knock on our door to evict us, but to fill our loneliness with light. He doesn't enter our homes to handcuff us, but to restore to us the taste of true freedom.
FAUSTI - Christian life brings in its heart and has as a principle and aim the Incarnation of the Word. All centered on this mystery, it is a continuous actualization "today" of the "Yes" that had attracted God in the world. Mary is the figure of every believer and of the entire Church. What it happened to her has to happen to each one and everyone. The yes of the man that welcomes and generates the Word, from which everything begins is the real aim of the creation. The scene takes place in the "house", because God has finally found the house of which the temple is figure. It is the meeting that He has searched for all eternity, the moment in view of which the time began , crown of His dream of love, reward of His work, recompense for His effort. Eventually from the depths of His creation that has gone away from Him, it rises a "Yes" able to attract Him. And He comes , joins, is compromised forever. What was God's joy in being able to say to Mary: "Rejoice". The Bridegroom, eventually , after so many tragedies, finds the bride of His heart. Lastly the suffering ends. He is embraced by those that He loves. His offer finds hands that welcome Him, and the great arms of the world embrace, conceive and shake that without which man is not man. Love is loved. He has found a home where to live in and man's home is no longer deserted. The Incarnation has a "passional"character : it reveals the passion of God. It is the beginning of the marriage between Him and mankind, the beginning of a love that will be greater than death. The event begins with the “ sent” angel (= apostle) and ends with the angel that departs. The angel is the presence of God in His proclaimed Word. Our faith in His Word welcomes Him and unites us to Him: It is the Christmas of God on earth and of man in heaven. The Word becomes flesh inside us and does'nt leave us anymore. and the angel shall go to proclaim it to others, until the mystery accomplished in Mary it will be fulfilled in all men. The salvation of every man is to become like Mary. To say yes to the proposal of love of God, giving flesh in our body to the Eternal Word, generating the Son in the world.
Reading 1GN 3:9-15, 20
RispondiEliminaAfter the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree,
the LORD God called to the man and asked him, "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?
You have eaten, then,
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, and so I ate it."
The LORD God then asked the woman,
"Why did you do such a thing?"
The woman answered, "The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it."
Then the LORD God said to the serpent:
"Because you have done this, you shall be banned
from all the animals
and from all the wild creatures;
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 became the mother of all the living.
Responsorial Psalm
PS 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4
R. (1) Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
Reading 2
EPH 1:3-6, 11-12
Brothers and sisters:
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.
Alleluia SEE LK 1:28
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
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.
The words of the Popes
Elimina“Nothing is impossible for God...” (Luke 1:37). Only with the infinite power of love can we explain the fact that God the Word, God the Son, became man. Only with the inscrutable power of God's love can we explain the fact that the Virgin—the daughter of human parents—became the Mother of God. Yet this fact was incomprehensible to her: “How is this possible? I do not know man” (Luke 1:34). However, “nothing is impossible for God”! Since the omnipotence of the Eternal Father and the infinite power of love working with the power of the Holy Spirit cause the Son of God to become man in the womb of the Virgin of Nazareth, then the same power, in consideration of the merits of the Redeemer, preserves his Mother from the inheritance of original sin. “Nothing is impossible for God”! Let us reflect on the mystery of the Immaculate Conception. Listening to the living Word of God, which speaks to us from the depths of the first advent, let us face everything that the time of man and the world can bring us. Let us be united with the Woman par excellence, Mary. (St. John Paul II, Homily, 8 December 1981)
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
RispondiEliminaThe Gospel of today's liturgy, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, takes us into her home in Nazareth, where she receives the angel's announcement (see Luke 1:26-38). Within the walls of her home, a person reveals themselves better than elsewhere. And precisely in that domestic intimacy, the Gospel gives us something that reveals the beauty of Mary's heart.
The angel calls her "full of grace." If she is full of grace, it means that Our Lady is free of evil, without sin, Immaculate. Now, at this greeting, Mary—the text says—is "greatly troubled" (Luke 1:29). She is not only surprised, but troubled. Receiving great greetings, honors, and compliments can sometimes risk giving rise to boastfulness and presumption. Let us remember that Jesus is not gentle with those who seek greetings in the marketplaces, flattery, and visibility (see Luke 20:46). Mary, on the other hand, is not exalted, but troubled; rather than feeling pleasure, she feels astonishment. The angel's greeting seems greater than she is. Why? Because she feels small inside, and this smallness, this humility, attracts God's gaze.
Within the walls of the house in Nazareth, we thus see a marvelous trait. What is Mary's heart like? Having received the highest of compliments, she is troubled because she feels that what she did not attribute to herself is being addressed to her. Mary, in fact, does not attribute prerogatives to herself, does not claim anything, does not ascribe anything to her own merit. She does not complacency, she does not exalt herself. Because in her humility, she knows she receives everything from God. She is therefore free from herself, completely turned towards God and others. Mary Immaculate has no eyes for herself. This is true humility: not having eyes for oneself, but for God and for others.
Let us remember that this perfection of Mary, full of grace, is declared by the angel within the walls of her home: not in the main square of Nazareth, but there, in seclusion, in the greatest humility. In that little house in Nazareth beat the greatest heart any creature has ever had. Dear brothers and sisters, this is extraordinary news for us! Because it tells us that the Lord, to work wonders, does not need great means and our sublime abilities, but our humility, our openness to Him and also to others. With that announcement, within the humble walls of a small home, God changed history. Even today, He desires to do great things with us in our daily lives: that is, in our families, at work, in our everyday environments. There, more than in the great events of history, God's grace loves to work. But, I wonder, do we believe it? Or do we think that holiness is a utopia, something for insiders, a pious illusion incompatible with ordinary life?
Let us ask Our Lady for a grace: that she free us from the misleading idea that the Gospel is one thing and life another; that she inflame us with enthusiasm for the ideal of holiness, which is not a matter of holy cards and prayer cards, but of living each day with humility and joy, like Our Lady, free from ourselves, with our eyes turned to God and the neighbor we encounter. Please, let us not lose heart: the Lord has given everyone the right fabric to weave holiness into daily life! And when we are assailed by doubts about our ability to do so, or by the sadness of our own inadequacy, let us allow ourselves to be looked upon by Our Lady's "merciful eyes," for no one who has asked for her help has ever been abandoned!
(POPE Francis ANGELUS, December 8, 2021)
TONINO BELLO - Mary, a welcoming woman. This phrase is found in a Council text, and is splendid in its doctrine and conciseness. It says that, at the Angel's Annunciation, the Virgin Mary "welcomed the Word of God in her heart and body." In her heart and in her body. She was, that is, both disciple and mother of the Word. Disciple, because she listened to the Word and kept it forever in her heart.
RispondiEliminaMother, because she offered her womb to the Word and guarded it for nine months in the treasure chest of her body. St. Augustine dares to say that Mary was greater for having welcomed the Word in her heart than for having welcomed it in her womb. Perhaps, to fully understand the beauty of this truth, vocabulary is not enough. We must resort to visual expressions. And so there is nothing better than to refer to a famous Eastern icon, which depicts Mary with the divine Son Jesus inscribed on her chest. She is known as the Madonna of the sign, but could be called the Madonna of welcome, because with her forearms raised high, in an attitude of offering or surrender, she appears as a living symbol of the most gratuitous hospitality. She welcomed in her heart.
That is, she made room in her thoughts for God's thoughts; but she did not feel reduced to silence. She willingly offered the virgin soil of her spirit to the germination of the Word; but she did not consider herself dispossessed of anything. She joyfully ceded to Him the most inviolable ground of her interior life, but without having to restrict the spaces of her freedom. She gave the Lord a permanent home in the most secret chambers of her soul; but she did not experience His presence as a violation of her domicile. She welcomed in her body. That is, she felt the physical weight of another being taking up residence in her mother's womb. She therefore adapted her rhythms to those of her guest. She modified her habits, in accordance with a task that certainly did not lighten her life. She devoted her days to gestating a creature who would spare her no worries or troubles. And since the blessed fruit of her womb was the Word of God who became incarnate for the salvation of humanity, she understood that she had contracted a debt of welcome with all of Eve's children, a debt she would repay with promissory notes of tears. She welcomed the Word of God into her heart and body. That fundamental hospitality speaks volumes about Mary's style, of whose thousand other welcomes the Gospel doesn't speak, but which it is not difficult for us to imagine. No one was ever rejected by her.
And everyone found shelter under her shadow. From the neighbors to the old companions of Nazareth. From Joseph's relatives to his son's boyhood friends. From the poor of the neighborhood to the passing pilgrims. From Peter in tears after the betrayal to Judas, who perhaps couldn't find her at home that night...
Holy Mary, welcoming woman, help us to welcome the Word into the depths of our hearts. To understand, as you did, God's intrusions into our lives. He doesn't knock on our door to evict us, but to fill our loneliness with light. He doesn't enter our homes to handcuff us, but to restore to us the taste of true freedom.
FAUSTI - Christian life brings in its heart and has as a principle and aim the Incarnation of the Word. All centered on this mystery, it is a continuous actualization "today" of the "Yes" that had attracted God in the world.
RispondiEliminaMary is the figure of every believer and of the entire Church.
What it happened to her has to happen to each one and everyone.
The yes of the man that welcomes and generates the Word, from which everything begins is the real aim of the creation. The scene takes place in the "house", because God has finally found the house of which the temple is figure.
It is the meeting that He has searched for all eternity, the moment in view of which the time began , crown of His dream of love, reward of His work, recompense for His effort.
Eventually from the depths of His creation that has gone away from Him, it rises a "Yes" able to attract Him. And He comes , joins, is compromised forever.
What was God's joy in being able to say to Mary: "Rejoice". The Bridegroom, eventually , after so many tragedies, finds the bride of His heart.
Lastly the suffering ends. He is embraced by those that He loves.
His offer finds hands that welcome Him, and the great arms of the world embrace, conceive and shake that without which man is not man.
Love is loved. He has found a home where to live in and man's home is no longer deserted.
The Incarnation has a "passional"character : it reveals the passion of God. It is the beginning of the marriage between Him and mankind, the beginning of a love that will be greater than death.
The event begins with the “ sent” angel (= apostle) and ends with the angel that departs.
The angel is the presence of God in His proclaimed Word.
Our faith in His Word welcomes Him and unites us to Him:
It is the Christmas of God on earth and of man in heaven.
The Word becomes flesh inside us and does'nt leave us anymore. and the angel shall go to proclaim it to others, until the mystery accomplished in Mary it will be fulfilled in all men.
The salvation of every man is to become like Mary. To say yes to the proposal of love of God, giving flesh in our body to the Eternal Word, generating the Son in the world.