REFLECTIONS TODAY

When the angel Gabriel delivers God’s message to Zechariah, the old priest does not believe in the message and is rendered speechless. 

Mary puts in the same question, “How can this be?” (v 34) but does not share Zechariah’s fate. Definitely, it is not out of disbelief. 

Mary may simply be voicing out her thoughts, given the fact that she is already engaged to Joseph. She is a young woman who is unafraid to ask. And when the angel tells her how she will bear the Son of the Most High, she says “Yes.” Pope Francis reflects on Mary’s Fiat (“May it be done to me”): “This was no merely passive or resigned acceptance, or a faint ‘yes,’ as if to say, ‘Well, let us give it a try and see what happens.’ 

Mary did not know the words, ‘Let’s see what happens.’ She was determined; she knew what was at stake and she said ‘yes’ without thinking twice. 

Hers was the ‘yes’ of someone prepared to be committed, someone willing to take a risk, ready to stake everything she had with no more security than the certainty of knowing that she was the bearer of a promise” (Christus Vivit, 44).

Gospel • Luke 1:26-38 

In the sixth month, 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.

Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.