I think one of the most beautiful things about being human is not knowing.

We won’t know what will happen tomorrow, next week, or next year. We don’t know who or what will suddenly come knocking at our door, changing our lives.

I imagine Mother Mary. The message that changed her life didn’t even knock. She must have been stunned with the angel’s appearance. But despite the unusual circumstances, she trusted. She said yes to this sudden life-changing event. Because of Mama Mary’s yes, our Messiah came to earth.

I’m about the same age as Mary in this story, and many things come into my life that shock me too. Most of the time, it’s God’s message that completely shifts the way I see life. 

Even if I don’t know what will knock on my door next, I continue to pray that I’ll say yes.

May we always be ready with our yes to God’s life-changing call just like Mary. 

Helene Gogna (helenegogna@gmail.com)

reflect

Worried about the future or a problem that has just come knocking on your door? Remember that God knows it all. He fights your battles with you always.

Lord, You are knocking at the door of our hearts with this message. We pray that we will open them up and say yes to Your call.

Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us.

First Reading | Genesis 3:9-15, 20

After the fall of Adam and Eve, God promised that the offspring of the woman would strike the head of the serpent Satan. This was fulfilled through the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when by God’s special grace, she was preserved from the stains and effects of original sin. By this unique grace, God freed humanity from Satan and enabled the eternal Son to take on the flesh of the Virgin Mary and become man.

⁹ After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the Lord God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” ¹¹ 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!” ¹² The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.” ¹³ 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.” ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ 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.” ²⁰ The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living.  

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4

R: Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds. 

¹ 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) ² The Lord has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice. ³ He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. (R) All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. ⁴ Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands; break into song; sing praise. (R) 

Second Reading | Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12

Through His Son, God has chosen each of us to make up the mystical body of Christ, the Church. If we remain in Him by faith and grace, God will bring to completion all that He has purposed. Let us abandon all our cares to our loving God, knowing that He works in us for His purpose and glory.

³ 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, ⁴ as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love ⁵ he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, ⁶ for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. ¹¹ 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, ¹² so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.

Gospel | Luke 1:26-38 

The angel Gabriel comes to Mary with an unusual greeting. He addresses her as “full of grace.” That is the plentitude and fullness of grace that dwell in the heart of the Virgin Mary who is without sin. She lives in a deep and abiding union with God; her heart never having known the ravages of sin and death. Mary is also full of humility and amazed at the angel’s greeting, yet her heart remains receptive and completely surrendered to the will of God in all things. 

Gospel Acclamation 

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women. 

²⁶ 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, full of grace! 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.

Reflect:

“While she (the Blessed Virgin Mary) holds your hand, you cannot fall.” (St. Bernard Clairvaux)

Read the Bible in one year! Read PROVERBS 13 - 16 today.

A Woman Called Mary

Today’s First Reading narrates the story of the first sin and its consequences. We can identify the consequence of sin in three words:

First, alienation. After the first man and woman sinned, they realized they were naked and hid themselves from God. When God asked, “Where are you?” He was not asking for location. He was talking about their communion, their relationship. Sin always involves alienation—in oneself, from one another, and even from creation.

Second, separation. After sin, the blaming game began. The man blamed the woman (and also God). The woman blamed the serpent. The poor serpent had no one else to blame. Alienation from communion also brings about physical separation. The man and woman ran away from God and were banished from the garden.

Third, rebellion. The serpent tricked the man and woman to disobedience. It was a form of rebellion against God. That is the nature of sin. The self or the “I” becomes the center. Sin is self-idolatry. It is no accident that at the center of the word “sin” is I.

Mary, the Immaculate, is the woman foretold to undo everything that the first woman did: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Mary Immaculate turned the alienation of old to integration. She restored separation into communion. Mary healed the original rebellion into trusting submission.

This is the reason why Mary is honored throughout human history as the New Eve. If through the Old Eve, sin entered the world, the New Eve, the Immaculate one, restores creation in alignment to God’s plan. 

This is why Mary is beautiful. This is why Mary is our tainted nature’s solitary boast. This is why Mary is honored today as the Immaculate One. 

Fr. Joel Jason

Reflection question

God is to be trusted. Submission to God is sweet surrender.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ________________________________