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2010년 3월 25일 목요일 주님 탄생 예고 대축일
제1독서
이사야서. 7,10-14; 8,10ㄷ
그 무렵 10 주님께서 아하즈에게 이르셨다. 11 “너는 주 너의 하느님께 너를 위하여 표징을 청하여라. 저 저승 깊은 곳에 있는 것이든, 저 위 높은 곳에 있는 것이든 아무것이나 청하여라.”
12 아하즈가 대답하였다. “저는 청하지 않겠습니다. 그리고 주님을 시험하지 않으렵니다.”
13 그러자 이사야가 말하였다. “다윗 왕실은 잘 들으십시오! 여러분은 사람들을 성가시게 하는 것으로는 부족하여, 나의 하느님까지 성가시게 하려 합니까? 14 그러므로 주님께서 몸소 여러분에게 표징을 주실 것입니다. 보십시오, 젊은 여인이 잉태하여 아들을 낳고 그 이름을 임마누엘이라 할 것입니다.” 8,10 [하느님께서는 우리와 함께 계시다.]
제2독서
히브리서. 10,4-10
형제 여러분, 4 황소와 염소의 피가 죄를 없애지 못합니다. 5 그러한 까닭에, 그리스도께서는 세상에 오실 때에 이렇게 말씀하셨습니다. “당신께서는 제물과 예물을 원하지 않으시고, 오히려 저에게 몸을 마련해 주셨습니다. 6 번제물과 속죄 제물을 당신께서는 기꺼워하지 않으셨습니다. 7 그리하여 제가 아뢰었습니다. ‘보십시오, 하느님! 두루마리에 저에 관하여 기록된 대로, 저는 당신의 뜻을 이루러 왔습니다.’”
8 그리스도께서는 먼저 “제물과 예물을”, 또 “번제물과 속죄 제물을 당신께서는 원하지도, 기꺼워하지도 않으셨습니다.” 하고 말씀하시는데, 이것들은 율법에 따라 바치는 것입니다. 9 그다음에는 “보십시오, 저는 당신의 뜻을 이루러 왔습니다.” 하고 말씀하십니다. 두 번째 것을 세우시려고 그리스도께서 첫 번째 것을 치우신 것입니다.
10 이 “뜻”에 따라, 예수 그리스도의 몸이 단 한 번 바쳐짐으로써 우리가 거룩하게 되었습니다.
복음
루카. 1,26-38
그때에 26 하느님께서는 가브리엘 천사를 갈릴래아 지방 나자렛이라는 고을로 보내시어, 27 다윗 집안의 요셉이라는 사람과 약혼한 처녀를 찾아가게 하셨다. 그 처녀의 이름은 마리아였다.
28 천사가 마리아의 집으로 들어가 말하였다. “은총이 가득한 이여, 기뻐하여라. 주님께서 너와 함께 계시다.” 29 이 말에 마리아는 몹시 놀랐다. 그리고 이 인사말이 무슨 뜻인가 하고 곰곰이 생각하였다.
30 천사가 다시 마리아에게 말하였다. “두려워하지 마라, 마리아야. 너는 하느님의 총애를 받았다. 31 보라, 이제 네가 잉태하여 아들을 낳을 터이니, 그 이름을 예수라 하여라. 32 그분께서는 큰 인물이 되시고, 지극히 높으신 분의 아드님이라 불리실 것이다. 주 하느님께서 그분의 조상 다윗의 왕좌를 그분께 주시어, 33 그분께서 야곱 집안을 영원히 다스리시리니, 그분의 나라는 끝이 없을 것이다.”
34 마리아가 천사에게, “저는 남자를 알지 못하는데, 어떻게 그런 일이 있을 수 있겠습니까?” 하고 말하자, 35 천사가 마리아에게 대답하였다.
“성령께서 너에게 내려오시고, 지극히 높으신 분의 힘이 너를 덮을 것이다. 그러므로 태어날 아기는 거룩하신 분, 하느님의 아드님이라고 불릴 것이다. 36 네 친척 엘리사벳을 보아라. 그 늙은 나이에도 아들을 잉태하였다. 아이를 못 낳는 여자라고 불리던 그가 임신한 지 여섯 달이 되었다. 37 하느님께는 불가능한 일이 없다.”
38 마리아가 말하였다. “보십시오, 저는 주님의 종입니다. 말씀하신 대로 저에게 이루어지기를 바랍니다.” 그러자 천사는 마리아에게서 떠나갔다.
March 25, 2010
Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
Reading I
Is 7:10-14; 8:10
The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying:
Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God;
let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!
But Ahaz answered,
“I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!”
Then Isaiah said:
Listen, O house of David!
Is it not enough for you to weary people,
must you also weary my God?
Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us!”
Responsorial Psalm
40:7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 11
R. (8a and 9a) Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.”
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!”
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O Lord, know.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Your justice I kept not hid within my heart;
your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of;
I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth
in the vast assembly.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Reading II
Heb 10:4-10
Brothers and sisters:
It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats
take away sins.
For this reason, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight.
Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,
behold, I come to do your will, O God.’”
First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings,
holocausts and sin offerings,
you neither desired nor delighted in.”
These are offered according to the law.
Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.”
He takes away the first to establish the second.
By this “will,” we have been consecrated
through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Gospel
Lk 1:26-38
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.
REFLECTION
“Mary was deeply troubled by the angel’s message.”
Each of us is called to follow Jesus,
to do the will of God.
It is often unclear, often not easy, always a mystery.
Yet, God is with us, as the angel was with Mary,
blessing us, giving us strength,
to do what we are being called to do.
http://www.franciscanretreats.net/
Today, on this Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation. Nine months from today we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Birth of Christ. Both of these feasts are Solemnities, yet one is greatly and widely celebrated and the other passes like a gust of wind without hardly any notice at all.
The Solemnity of the Annunciation is not nearly as “popular” as the Solemnity of Christmas. But it should be. This is the beginning of the redemptive plan of God for the human race! The mystery begins here! Almighty God chooses a simple, ordinary woman who, unknowingly at this time; was preserved from all stain of sin, and overshadows her with the power of the Holy Spirit causing the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity to take on flesh and finally to die on a cross for all the sins of the human race and thus make it possible for us to return to our Creator! Wow! It seems to me it doesn’t get any more important than this and the Annunciation is the Solemnity that should primarily be celebrated
http://www.evangeli.net/gospel/gospel.html
http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
In the Feast of the annunciation, the Church celebrates the wondrous proclamation of the fullness of God’s saving will. The rich banquet of biblical texts assigned to today’s Mass provides extraordinary insight into the meaning of the whole Christian Tradition. Like Easter, or Christmas, or Pentecost, the Feast of the Annunciation seems to encapsulate the fullness of Christian witness. In the ancient Church it was even thought that March 25th was both the day of Adam’s birth and Jesus’ conception (since the world was imagined to have been created in the spring) as well as Jesus’ actual death date. In a word, this feast is the summary of God’s action to create/save all that God loves – and it offers us an invitation to come to the salvation party.
The image of the stubborn king who refuses to know and do what God wills stands in sharp contrast to the young woman who responds with a slightly puzzled but generous commitment to give her whole being so that God’s plan may be carried forward in her time. By virtue of having been anointed King, Ahaz was obliged to listen to the will of God as it comes through the prophets and signs of the times – but he rejects the opportunity to know what it is that God is planning. In a fit of pseudo piety he protests that he won’t “tempt the Lord” by asking for a sign from God. Mary, a seemingly ordinary Jewish woman doesn’t ask for a sign so much as ask about the ordinary laws of nature: “how can this be” that she will become pregnant since she is not having a sexual relationship. In both cases the “sign” of God’s active labor in the human condition will be made obvious by the birth of an unlooked for child. The child will serve as an incarnated expression of God’s intent to undo all the harm to the human condition that humanity has been capable of accomplishing.
Jesus’ human response of perfect alignment and co-operation with God’s will give to us both a sense of the dimensions of God’s desire for our complete joy and perfection and the capacity to co-operate with him in the fulfillment of that will for ourselves and each other.
I think for many of us our imagination of God’s will is threatening. Like Teresa of Avila we can protest to God something on the order of “no wonder you have so few friends” when following what we believe to be God’s desire can seem to bring great difficulty, suffering or challenge. There is no question that if we look at the historical record, God’s spokespeople and friends are challenged by difficulty, and are often rejected by the mass of sinful humanity (including closest family and friends). But such suffering does not allay the stunning freedom and peace – and often material flourishing - that can also come with doing God’s will in our world, and the promise of total joy for eternity.
Another problem for people of good will, may be that the message of God’s will for most of us does not seem to come with angelic appearances or even a recognizable prophet shouting at us. Or perhaps it does but our imagination of angels and prophets is a bit narrow. God’s will cannot be impossible for us to hear if God wants us, in freedom, to fulfill it. It has to be made available to us in media that we can grasp and understand – but the media may demand a kind of attentiveness and humility. I may have to put up with an “angel” who is some colleague, friend or other messenger that doesn’t fit my category of angelic. Or it may be spoken through a prophetic voice that just happens to be the person I like least, or don’t want to hear from. Such messages may come from hardship moments in our lives when the message is the “turn signal” from bad choices (being fired from a job or a hangover from too much drink taken leap to mind as easy examples). God does not will to harm us. God’s love absolutely wills our full human flourishing – but God also wills the full human flourishing of our neighbor and expects His friends to will that as well, by the way we live our lives in justice, mercy and love as Jesus did. The suffering and death of Jesus is not the end of his story. Even Jesus’ resurrection is not the end of his story. Today’s feast announces that Jesus has opened a whole new story for humanity that includes glory for each and every one of us – the glory of God made visible in each one of us. How can we not respond like Mary – turning away from the will to our own power made visible in Ahaz’s stupidity – and say “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will.”
http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/
"For with God nothing will be impossible"
God uses signs to communicate his purposes, his presence, his righteousness, his favor to his people (Psalm 86:17), and his assurance that he is speaking to them and that he will keep his promises. God also performed mighty signs to demonstrate his saving deeds when he delivered his people from bondage in Egypt (Psalm 78:43). When God offered King Ahaz a sign, the king refused. God, nonetheless, gave Israel a sign to assure his people that he would indeed give them a Savior who would rule with peace and righteousness (Isaiah 7:11ff). The greatest sign God has given us is his Son Jesus Christ who took on flesh for our sake and for our salvation.
We see the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy and the unfolding of God's plan of redemption in the events leading up to the Incarnation, the birth of the Messiah. The new era of salvation begins with the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary. This child to be born is conceived by the gracious action of the Holy Spirit upon Mary, who finds favor with God. As Eve was the mother of all humanity doomed to sin, now Mary becomes the mother of the new Adam who will father a new humanity by his grace (Romans 5:12-21). This child to be conceived in her womb is the fulfillment of all God’s promises. He will be “great” and “Son of the Most High” and “King” (Luke 1:32-33), and his name shall be called “Jesus”, which means “the Lord saves”. “He will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). The promise of an everlasting kingdom to the house of David (Isaiah 9:6-7) is fulfilled in the King to be born in Mary’s womb.
How does Mary respond to the word of God delivered by the angel Gabriel? She knows she is hearing something beyond human capability. It will surely take a miracle which surpasses all that God has done previously. Her question, “how shall this be, since I have no husband” is not prompted by doubt or skepticism, but by wonderment! She is a true hearer of the Word and she immediately responds with faith and trust. Mary's prompt response of "yes" to the divine message is a model of faith for all believers. Mary believed God's promises even when they seemed impossible. She was full of grace because she trusted that what God said was true and would be fulfilled. She was willing and eager to do God's will, even if it seemed difficult or costly. Mary is the “mother of God” because God becomes incarnate when he takes on flesh in her womb. When we pray the Nicene Creed we state our confession of faith in this great mystery: “For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.” God gives us grace and he expects us to respond with the same willingness, obedience, and heartfelt trust as Mary did. When God commands he also gives the help, strength, and means to respond. We can either yield to his grace or resist and go our own way. Do you believe in God's promises and do you yield to his grace?
"Heavenly Father, you offer us abundant grace, mercy, and forgiveness through your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Help me to live a grace-filled life as Mary did by believing in your promises and by giving you my unqualified "yes" to your will and plan for my life."
Psalm 40:7-11
7 Then I said, "Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD.
10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
11 Do not, O LORD, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever.
http://www.contemplative.com/weekday_readings.htm
We approach in adoration the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God, taking human existence in the womb of Mary, His Mother. The Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, lives now with a human nature, while still being divine. The profundity of the mystery demands the silence and surrender of deep prayer.
following is the meditation for the weekday Gospel:
John 8.51-59
Many have kept Christ's word and yet have experienced death. We will also experience death. But they and we will not see death. On passing through death we will see Christ who is life; we will not see death our death. We will wake to a particular judgment and then in grace to eternal light in the mystery of Christ—this is our hope. We will know the certainty of our own resurrection in the body and the sight of God's glory in the risen Christ. Death is pure nothingness; Christ is eternal existence and light. Jesus is the great "I Am." Our own person is immortal and is destined for divine glory because of Jesus being the Son of Man and the Son of the Father. “Before Abraham, I am.” Our prayer is keeping the word of Christ. Our prayer is living in the word as in a house. Our prayer is the constant surrender to the Presence of the Triune God in the mystery of the incarnate Son. The fruit of our prayer is experiencing divine life through grace. “In Him was the light of life.” Our prayer is a joy, sharing the laughter of Sarah and the joy of Abraham. They were happy to see our day.
http://goodnews.ie/calendar.php
On the face of it, today’s reading seems quite like the angel’s visit to Zechariah announcing the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:8-20). But when you look more closely you see that they are set in clear contrast to each other. Zechariah was standing right at the centre of the nation’s place of worship, and “the whole assembly of the people was praying outside,” but Mary was a tiny unknown figure, remote from all centres of power. Mary’s demeanour is also contrasted with Zechariah’s: she takes God at his word, unlike the argumentative Zechariah. She is seen as the model believer. It is a subtle contrast: she too had a question, similar to Zechariah’s question, but there are many different kinds of ‘why’ (or ‘how’). Zechariah’s question was literally, “by what shall I know this?” (kata ti;), as if asking for independent confirmation; while Mary’s was simply “how” (pos;). Meister Eckhart said in one of his sermons that we should not ask ‘why’. At first sight this is surprising; he was an academic theologian whose business it was to ask many whys. But he was also clear about the differences. There is the ‘why’ that is like locking a door (“I will admit only what I can understand”), and there is the why that is like opening a door, wanting to enter more deeply. Mary’s ‘why’, no doubt, was of the second kind.
Though Mary appears in a perfect light, it is clear that it is not her virtue that has earned her the great honour that is to come. The angel’s greeting makes it clear. “Favoured one,” kecharitomene: what is coming to her is God's gift, not reward for virtue. (In the biblical passage the favour being offered was, of course, the conception of Jesus in her womb. There is nothing in the Scriptures about the beginnings of Mary’s own life, and no mention of course of her conception (which is what today’s feast is about), so the Liturgy takes today’s passage instead.)
Mary is the model of Christian discipleship. When her story is presented only as the story of her special privileges, that role is being taken from her. When we only stress her differences from us we are subtly pushing her away. There have been many aberrations of Marian piety, and we need to stay close to the authentic tradition. St Ambrose gave it luminous expression in his comment on this passage. "Every soul who has believed both conceives and generates the Word of God and recognises his works. Let the soul of Mary be in each one of you to magnify the Lord. Let the spirit of Mary be in each one to exult in Christ."
http://www.presentationministries.com/
GOD, BABY, MAN, AND LOVE "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; hence, the holy Offspring to be born will be called Son of God." 뾎uke 1:35 "The Word became flesh" (Jn 1:14). This is a most shocking revelation. We believe that the almighty, all-holy God, Who created an awesome universe spanning millions of light-years, became a human being smaller than your thumbnail. We believe God was implanted in the uterus of a teenager named Mary. We believe God had to have His diaper changed, talked baby-talk, fell on His rear end when He tried to walk, slobbered on His foster-father, spat up on His mother, nursed at Mary's breast, and threw His food on the floor. Christianity is the only world religion that believes God became man. The Incarnation seems blasphemous to non-Christian religions. Christianity is also the only world religion which believes in a personal relationship with God. For human beings, a personal relationship is only possible with other human beings. To personally relate to someone, we need someone whom we are able to touch, hear, and see. Only when God became Man was it possible to have a personal relationship with Him. Our personal relationship with God began with the Incarnation and continues through the Holy Spirit even after the ascension of Christ's physical body into heaven. The Holy Spirit puts us in touch with the person of Jesus through Christ's body, the Church, and the sacraments, especially Jesus' body and blood in the Eucharist. Today's feast day, the Annunciation, celebrates the beginning of love that comes only in a personal relationship. Praise Jesus, Who is God, Man, and Love! (1 Jn 4:16) Prayer: Father, inspire me to fall down in worship when I hear the words: "The Word became flesh." Promise: "A body You have prepared for Me. " 뾊eb 10:5 Praise: Praise You, Jesus, "Son of the Most High." Great is Your dignity and power (Lk 1:32).
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