Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent
Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Lk 1: 26-38
December 20, 2022 | Tuesday
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God, to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
The angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean.
But the angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a son; and you shall call him Jesus. He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his ancestor; he will rule over the people of Jacob forever; and his reign shall have no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 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 holy child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative, Elizabeth, is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”
Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.
Today’s Reflection:
Mary’s “fiat” is praised by the Church as her sublime expression of faith and total obedience to the will of God. Saint John Paul II said that through her “fiat” Mary “intends to commit herself to fulfill personally and in a perfect manner the service God expects of all his people …. In this commitment of service she also includes the intention to serve her neighbor, she thus offers Christians of all times a sublime model of service …. By conforming to the divine will, Mary anticipates and makes her own the attitude of Christ.” We, too, are invited by God to give ourselves entirely to His service. How ready are we to replicate Mary’s response to the angel, saying: “Let it be done to me according to your word” (v.38)? To we possess the same faith and obedience? /Vulnerasti, 2022
