Sunday, December 24, 2017
4th Sunday of Advent
1st Reading: 2nd Samuel 7:1-5,8-12,14,16
2nd Reading: Romans 16:25-27
Gospel: Luke 1:26-38
The angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean.
But the angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus. He will be great and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his ancestor; he will rule over the people of Jacob forever and his reign shall have no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be if I am a virgin?” And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the holy child to be born shall be called Son of God…”
Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
A rich lady took a poor boy to a fast food restaurant. It was the first time someone did this to him. When the waiter came along the rich lady began to order but she noticed that the little boy wanted to say something. “Let the little man tell us himself what he wants,” said the lady. “I’ll have a ham-bur-ger,” he said. When the waiter went off to get the order the little boy said, “That man thinks I’m real.”
The foregoing story is thought provoking. God too took us for real when He made it appear he needed the consent of human beings before implementing his salvific plan. That was when he sent his angel to Mary, who, acting on behalf of humanity committed herself to God’s proposal.
Any intrusion from God to human lives would have been legitimate, yet God chose not to save us without consulting us. In the words of St. Augustine, “God created us without us: but he did not will to save us without us” (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1847). Although we came into being without our consent, no salvation will happen to us without such consent.
The consent required is one coupled with understanding. When we say OK to God’s salvific act, it should be an OK that is not mechanical. The expression “okey” is slang for “all clear”. We should only say OK when all is clear. If after trying our best to clarify issues things are still cloudy, faith can come in. The gift of faith enables us to embrace the things we cannot understand. What is important is that we put faith and understanding to work before we give our consent. Not that such consent is absolutely indispensable. God would just like to take us for real!—(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM.
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