READINGS for 2006-12-20

WHAT?S IN YOUR NAME?

?? the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.? ? Isaiah 7: 14
      Today is my son?s 10th birthday. Today, 10 years ago, he received his name, ?Aio?, which means ?good?. That name means so much to us, as it means so much to him.
      Our names may already be the start of something great and beautiful!
      Our savior is named, ?Emmanuel?, a name given and foretold ages before he was born. It is by no accident that his name means ?God is with us?. Never has God truly been with us than when Jesus, His only begotten Son, lived amongst us on this planet. Never will God truly be with us until Jesus lives in our hearts. Jesus? name means a lot!
      Your name means a lot to God too! In fact, he has your name written on the palm of his hand. Take care of that name. More than that, take very good care of that person behind that name. It means much more to God! Alvin B.

REFLECTION:
Say your name. What does your name mean to you?

Thank you, Father, for giving me a name that you hold most dearly. May I live up to my heavenly name, ?child of God?. Amen.

1st READING

Isaiah 7:10-14

God promises to deliver Jerusalem from the siege going on at the time of Isaiah?s prophecy. He promises to do so within nine months, the time period that a woman is pregnant. Christians look back on this prophecy and see in it the seed of the promise of the Messiah born to a young woman. This is part of the ?fuller? meaning of this text ? a meaning known to God but hidden from the human author at the time. Let us pray that we will grow in our understanding of the Scriptures so that we can grow in our knowledge of God and His ways.

10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz: 11 ?Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!? 12 But Ahaz answered, ?I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!? 13 Then he said: ?Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.

P S A L M

Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

R: Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

1 The LORD?s are the earth and its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it. 2 For he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. (R) 3 Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD? Or who may stand in his holy place? 4 He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. (R) 5 He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, a reward from God his savior. 6 Such is the race that seeks for him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob. (R)

G O S P E L

Luke 1:26-38

Mary receives the news that she is to be the mother of the Son of God with remarkable calmness for a young woman. This is a sign of the depth of her faith and surrender to God; something that we should all seek to emulate. She stands for all time as a woman who is the perfect disciple of her son who is yet to be born. The grace of God is so powerful with her that she is said to be ?full of grace.? What an extraordinary person she was and yet she lived a simple and unassuming life in a small town in Judah. Let us seek first to be obedient to God?s will ? this is the most important thing we can do.

26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin?s name was Mary. 28 And coming to her, he said, ?Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.? 29 But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 Then the angel said to her, ?Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. 32 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, 33 and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.? 34 But Mary said to the angel, ?How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?? 35 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. 36 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; 37 for nothing will be impossible for God.? 38 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.

my reflections
think: Let us seek first of all to be obedient to God?s will.

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God?s special verse/thought for me today________________

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T O D A Y ? S BLESSING LIST

Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________

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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Hebrews 6-10

KNOCK! KNOCK!

I asked a friend of mine, ?Will you still remember me after ten years?? ?But, of course, Father, I will!? he answered. ?How about after 20 years?? I asked again. ?Father, I will never ever forget you in ten years, in 20 years, or even in my entire lifetime,? he said.
      ?Knock! Knock!? I continued. ?Who?s there?? my friend asked. ?Liar! You said you will never ever forget me. How come you do not know me now?? I joked.
      Of course, we?ve heard this joke several times. It may sound corny to you and me, but this is what the Lord is doing today in the Gospel. He is knocking on Mary?s womb: ?Knock! Knock! May I come in?? When the Lord knocked in Mary?s womb, Mary opened up to Him and let Him in. She did not doubt. Her question, ?How can this be since I do not know man? was an inquiry to how she could welcome the Lord in her womb since she consecrated  herself to Him in virginity. The angel Gabriel explained to her the unexplainable ways of God. ?I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to Your word,? Mary said as she opened her womb to the Lord who knocked.
      The Lord also knocks, not on our wombs ? for not all of us have them and there can be only one to carry Him ? but on our hearts. ?Knock! Knock!? He says and waits for our response. If we open our hearts to Him and welcome Him in, we are blessed too. St. Augustine said of Mary, ?Mary is blessed among women because she carried the Word in her heart before she conceived It in her womb.?
      ?Knock! Knock!? the Lord tells us. This is no joke. Will we answer, ?Who?s there?? Fr. Bobby T.

REFLECTION QUESTION:
Do I really have Jesus in my heart?

We open our hearts to You, O Jesus. Come, enter, and dwell therein. Like Mary, make us conceive You in our hearts. Like Mary, make us give birth to You into the world. Amen.

St. Dominic of Silos, confessor, pray for us.