DAILY READING and REFLECTIONS For Friday, December 12, 2014 2nd week of Advent - Psalter Week 2 (White) Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Readings: Zechariah 2:14-17; Psalms 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6; Luke 1:39-47 Response: You are the highest honor to our race. Rosary: Sorrowful Mysteries Verse: f all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Feastday: December 12; Patron of the Americas When we reflect on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe we learn two important lessons, one of faith and one of understanding. Missionaries who first came to Mexico with the conquistadors had little success in the beginning. After nearly a generation, only a few hundred Native Mexicans had converted to the Christian faith. Whether they simply did not understand what the missionaries had to offer or whether they resented these people who made them slaves, Christianity was not popular among the native people. Then in 1531 miracles began to happen. Jesus own mother appeared to humble Juan Diego. The signs -- of the roses, of the uncle miraculously cured of a deadly illness, and especially of her beautiful image on Juans mantle -- convinced the people there was something to be considered in Christianity. Within a short time, six million Native Mexicans had themselves baptized as Christians. The first lesson is that God has chosen Mary to lead us to Jesus. No matter what critics may say of the devotion of Mexicans (and Mexican descendants) to Our Lady of Guadalupe, they owe their Christianity to her influence. If it were not for her, they would not know her son, and so they are eternally grateful. The second lesson we take from Mary herself. Mary appeared to Juan Diego not as a European madonna but as a beautiful Aztec princess speaking to him in his own Aztec language. If we want to help someone appreciate the gospel we bring, we must appreciate the culture and the mentality in which they live their lives. By understanding them, we can help them to understand and know Christ. Our Lady of Guadalupe is patron of the Americas. FROM THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE: READING 1, Isaiah 48:17-19 17 Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am Yahweh your God and teach you for your own good, I lead you in the way you ought to go. 18 If only you had listened to my commandments! Your prosperity would have been like a river and your saving justice like the waves of the sea. 19 Your descendants would have been numbered like the sand, your offspring as many as its grains. Their name would never be cancelled or blotted out from my presence. RESPONSORIAL PSALM, Psalms 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6 1 How blessed is anyone who rejects the advice of the wicked and does not take a stand in the path that sinners tread, nor a seat in company with cynics, 2 but who delights in the law of Yahweh and murmurs his law day and night. 3 Such a one is like a tree planted near streams; it bears fruit in season and its leaves never wither, and every project succeeds. 4 How different the wicked, how different! Just like chaff blown around by the wind 6 For Yahweh watches over the path of the upright, but the path of the wicked is doomed. GOSPEL, Luke 1:39-47 39 Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah. 40 She went into Zechariahs house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Marys greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 She gave a loud cry and said, Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? 44 Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. 45 Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled. 46 And Mary said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; REFLECTIONS: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God) OPENING PRAYER: Lord our God, too often we are deaf to your voice and to the presence of your Son among us, his people. Inspire us by your prophets and your Spirit that now is the right moment to change and to commit ourselves to the kind of life and to the justice demanded by the kingdom. Help us to make people see that your Son is alive among us and that he is our Lord for ever. Amen. ON READING 1: Zechariah 2:14-17 (Third vision: the measurer) Zec 2, 1-13. What the prophet now sees and hears concerns the city of Jerusalem. It is going to be remodeled as an open city, without walls; its defence will be provided by God himself and therefore more people will be able to live there. The man with the measuring line is an angel, as are the other two figures mentioned. The idea of measuring the city in order to rebuild it is also found in Ezekiel 40-42 and Jeremiah 21:38-40 and, later, Revelation 11:1. The vision is followed by an oracle (vv. 6-10) in which the Lord speaks through the angel. He invites the Jews to leave Babylon and return to the holy land. This is a call that is also found in Isaiah and Jeremiah (cf. Is 48:20; Jer 50:8; 51:6). It could be that some were reluctant to move. God promises that in Judah they will be safe from other nations because they are his beloved people, the apple of his eye (v. 8 ), and his angel will defend them. Moreover, he will settle there, and ma- ny nations will become his people (vv. 10-11). Presence of the Lord, security against enemies and a way for the nations to become people of God – these are the features that Judah and Jerusalem will have following the return from exile. In this sense, they prefigure the Church. Commenting on v. 4, St. Jerome points out: Reading in a spiritual sense, all of these things are to be found in the Church, which is without walls, or, as the Septuagint puts it, katakarpos; that is, filled with an abundance of fruit and a great multitude of men and asses. The men and the asses [cattle, animals] stand for the two people, the Jews and the Gentiles; those who came to faith in Christ through the fulfillment of the Law are called men; we, however, who were idolatrous and lived as though in a wilderness, being far from the Law, and alone, because of our distance from the prophets who suffered, are the asses. But these animals hear the voice of the good shepherd, and know him, and they follow him (Commentarii in Zachariam, 2, 4). Zec 2, 10. This call for rejoicing, similar to that made by the prophet Zephaniah (cf. Zeph 3:14) and one made later (9:9), is repeated in the angel Gabriels greeting to the Blessed Virgin when he tells her that she is to conceive the Messiah (cf. Lk 1:28 ). That event will truly bring about what is said here, for Mary is the mother of him in whom the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Col 2:9) (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 722). Bl. John Paul II sees Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer, prefigured in the title daughter of Zion found here: Her presence in the midst of Israel -- a presence so discreet as to pass almost unnoticed by the eyes of her contemporaries -- shone very clearly before the Eternal One, who had associated this hidden daughter of Sion (cf. Zeph. 3:14; Zeph. 2:10) with the plan of salvation embracing the whole history of humanity (Redemptoris Mater, 3). Zec 2, 13. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2143, interprets the silence as one of loving adoration. This is the attitude that all will have when they see what God will do for Judah and Jerusalem; for Christians, it is the attitude they will have towards the incarnation, passion, death and resurrection of our Lord and towards what God does for his Church. ON THE GOSPEL: Luke 1:39-47 (The Visitation, The Magnificat) We must here consider that the greater cometh unto the lesser, Mary unto Elizabeth, Christ unto John. And again afterwards, to hallow the baptism of John, the Lord came unto him to be baptized. It was soon that the blessings of the coming of Mary and of the Presence of God were made manifest. Have regard here to the distinction made, and to the special weight of every word. Elizabeth was the first to hear the voice of Marys salutation, but John was the first to receive grace. (Reading 10): She heard naturally, but he leaped mystically. She hailed the coming of Mary, he that of the Lord, Mary and Elizabeth spake words full of grace, but Jesus and John worked, and commenced their mystery of godliness from their mothers beginnings, and so by twin miracles the mothers prophesied from the spirit of their unborn offspring. The babe leaped, and the mother was filled with the Holy Ghost. The mother was not filled before the son, but when the son was filled with the Holy Ghost, he filled his mother also. (Reading 11): And whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? That is to say, How cometh it to pass that so great a good should befall me, as that the Mother of my Lord should come to me I feel the miracle, I acknowledge the mystery the Mother of my Lord, pregnant with the Word, is full of God. And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house. It is meet to record how Mary showed this kindness, and abode this mystic number of months. (Reading 12): She tarried long, not only for friendships sake, but also for the good of the Great Prophet. For if the first coming of Mary so blessed him, that even as a babe in the womb he leapt for joy, and his mother was filled with the Holy Ghost, what blessedness must we not deem to have flowed upon him from so long neighborhood of Mary. Thus was the Prophet anointed, and trained by exercise like a strong wrestler, in his mothers womb, for his sinews were being braced for a hard battle. 39-56. We contemplate this episode of our Ladys visit to her cousin St. Elizabeth in the Second Joyful Mystery of the Rosary: Joyfully keep Joseph and Mary company ... and you will hear the traditions of the House of David.... We walk in haste towards the mountains, to a town of the tribe of Judah (Luke 1:39). We arrive. It is the house where John the Baptist is to be born. Elizabeth gratefully hails the Mother of her Redeemer: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honored with a visit from the mother of my Lord? (Luke 1:42-43). The unborn Baptist quivers...(Luke 1:41). Marys humility pours forth in the Magnificat.... And you and I, who are proud--who were proud--promise to be humble (St. J. Escriva, Holy Rosary). 39. On learning from the angel that her cousin St. Elizabeth is soon to give birth and is in need of support, our Lady in her charity hastens to her aid. She has no regard for the difficulties this involves. Although we do not know where exactly Elizabeth was living (it is now thought to be Ain Karim), it certainly meant a journey into the hill country which at that time would have taken four days. From Marys visit to Elizabeth Christians should learn to be caring people. If we have this filial contact with Mary, we wont be able to think just about ourselves and our problems. Selfish personal problems will find no place in our mind (St. J. Escriva, Christ Is Passing By, 145) 42. St. Bede comments that Elizabeth blesses Mary using the same words as the archangel to show that she should be honored by angels and by men and why she should indeed be revered above all other women (In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, in loc.). When we say the Hail Mary we repeat these divine greetings, rejoicing with Mary at her dignity as Mother of God and praising the Lord, thanking Him for having given us Jesus Christ through Mary (St. Pius X Catechism, 333). 43. Elizabeth is moved by the Holy Spirit to call Mary the mother of my Lord, thereby showing that Mary is the Mother of God. 44. Although he was conceived in sin--original sin--like other men, St. John the Baptist was born sinless because he was sanctified in his mothers womb by the =presence of Jesus Christ (then in Marys womb) and of the Blessed Virgin. On receiving this grace of God St. John rejoices by leaping with joy in his mothers womb -- thereby fulfilling the archangels prophecy (cf. Luke 1:15). St. John Chrysostom comments on this scene of the Gospel: See how new and how wonderful this mystery is. He has not yet left the womb but he speaks by leaping; he is not yet allowed to cry out but he makes himself heard by his actions; he has not yet seen the light but he points out the Sun; he has not yet been born and he is keen to act as Precursor. The Lord is present, so he cannot contain himself or wait for nature to run its course: he wants to break out of the prison of his Mothers womb and he makes sure he witnesses to the fact that the Savior is about to come (Sermo Apud Metaphr., Mense Julio). 45. Joining the chorus of all future generations, Elizabeth, moved by the Holy Spirit, declares the Lords Mother to be blessed and praises her faith. No one ever had faith to compare with Marys; she is the model of the attitude a creature should have towards its Creator--complete submission, total attachment. Through her faith, Mary is the instrument chosen by God to bring about the Redemption; as Mediatrix of all graces, she is associated with the redemptive work of her Son: This union of the Mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christs virginal conception up to His death; first when Mary, arising in haste to go to visit Elizabeth, is greeted by her as blessed because of her belief in the promise of salvation and the Precursor leaps with joy in the womb of his mother. The Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood (cf. John 19:25), in keeping with the Divine Plan, enduring with her only-begotten Son the intensity of His suffering, associating herself with His sacrifice in her mothers heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this Victim which was born of her (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 57f). The new Latin text gives a literal rendering of the original Greek when it says quae credidit (RSV she who has believed) as opposed to the Vulgate quae credidisti (you who have believed) which gave more of the sense than a literal rendering. 46-55. Marys Magnificat canticle is a poem of singular beauty. It evokes certain passages of the Old Testament with which she would have been very familiar (especially 1 Samuel 2:1-10). Three stanzas may be distinguished in the canticle: in the first (verses 46- Mary glorifies God for making her the Mother of the Savior, which is why future generations will call her blessed; she shows that the Incarnation is a mysterious expression of Gods power and holiness and mercy. In the second (verses 51-53) she teaches us that the Lord has always had a preference for the humble, resisting the proud and boastful. In the third (verses 54-55) she proclaims that God, in keeping with His promise, has always taken care of His chosen people -- and now does them the greatest honor of all by becoming a Jew (cf. Romans 1:3). Our prayer can accompany and imitate this prayer of Mary. Like her, we feel the desire to sing, to acclaim the wonders of God, so that all mankind and all creation may share our joy (St. J. Escriva, Christ Is Passing By, 144). 46-47. The first fruits of the Holy Spirit are peace and joy. And the Blessed Vir- gin had received within herself all the grace of the Holy Spirit (St. Basil, In Psalmos Homilae, on Psalm 32). Marys soul overflows in the words of the Magnificat. Gods favos cause every humble soul to feel joy and gratitude. In the case of the Blessed Virgin, God has bestowed more on her than on any other creature. Virgin Mother of God, He whom the heavens cannot contain, on becoming man, enclosed Himself within your womb (Roman Missal, Antiphon of the Common of the Mass for Feasts of Our Lady). The humble Virgin of Nazareth is going to be the Mother of God; the Creators omnipotence has never before manifested itself in as complete a way as this. FINAL PRAYERS: Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked Nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, But delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night. (Ps 1) Come home where the welcome runs to greet you. Come home to the fire that warms your soul. Return to the soul that bore your infant steps. Return to where I wait for you. -- Excerpted from the song “Come Home” by Bob Dufford, S.J. It is by God’s mercy that we are saved. May we never tire of spreading this joyful message to the world. -- Pope Francis Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. -- St. Jerome The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son, and He utters Him forever in everlasting silence; and in silence the soul has to hear it. -- St. John of the Cross
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 20:14:44 +0000
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