08 December 2008
First reading Genesis 3:9-15,20
After Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’
Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,
‘Be accursed beyond all cattle,
all wild beasts.
You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust
every day of your life.
I will make you enemies of each other:
you and the woman,
your offspring and her offspring.
It will crush your head
and you will strike its heel.’
The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live.
Psalm or canticle: Psalm 97:1-4
Second reading Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12
Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.
Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ,
to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence,
determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ
for his own kind purposes,
to make us praise the glory of his grace,
his free gift to us in the Beloved,
And it is in him that we were claimed as God’s own,
chosen from the beginning,
under the predetermined plan of the one who guides all things
as he decides by his own will;
chosen to be,
for his greater glory,
the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.
Gospel Luke 1:26-38
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
Reflection
By Pietro S. Albano
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has become an infamous a president ever since 2004 when the “Hello Garci” scam reared its ugly head causing a fragmented nation to doubt the legality and morality of her election. This scam bore still more scams and, in spite the many investigations and protests, we are still in the dark. Why? Because those who are able to shed light on it do not want to for fear of being exposed and being thrown out of office and the many perks it offers. This applies not only to Arroyo, but to the people who have always come to her defence. People we could label as her “Yes” men.
Today’s Gospel is indeed Good News for it shows us a different person who chose to follow God more than men – Mary. Having been invited by God through the Archangel Gabriel to be His Mother, she humbly accepted the invitation without any reservation whatsoever. Bear in mind that she was already engaged to Joseph. Should she be found to be pregnant, and not by Joseph, she would be stoned to death according to the Law.
Our faith could sometimes be at stake like Arroyo’s Yes Men. The lure of power, of being beholden to somebody in authority or somebody who has helped us in the past in the name of utang na loob (debt of gratitude) can at times make us ditch our Christian values. Today, we ask the Virgin Mary, the highly favoured lady, to keep on praying for us that like her we would always do our best to be God’s Yes Men first and foremost.
Lord God, forgive us for the many instances when we have abandoned You in exchange for temporary convenience. Send us Your Spirit that we may always yearn for You. For our hearts are indeed restless until they rest in You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Oh Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee and for those who do not have recourse to thee, especially for the enemies of the Holy Church and those recommended to thee.
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