April 04, 2016 Feast of the Annunciation 1st Reading: Is 7:10–14; 8:10 2nd Reading: Heb 10:4–10 Gospel:Lk 1:26–38 (…) 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; (…) With God nothing is impossible.” 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) The events surrounding the birth of Jesus mirror an important Old Testament promise of an end to transgression after 70 weeks (Daniel 9:24ff.). The nexus becomes clear if we make some mathematical computations by putting these events in a timeline. The angel appeared to Mary when Elizabeth was already six months (180 days) pregnant. Add this number of days to the 9 months (270 days) of pregnancy of Mary and you get 450 days. But Mary was not yet done with all rituals after giving birth. She had to wait for 40 days so she could undergo rituals of purification at the Temple. All will add up to 490 days or 70 weeks. This number mirrors the Old Testament promise that there will be an end to transgression after 70 weeks. In the events of the Incarnation, the promise is fulfilled. The foregoing analysis is not far from the truth if we factor in the fact that it was the same Angel Gabriel who announced to Mary that had appeared to Daniel years back announce the promise of an end to transgression. The angels said to Daniel: “Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city, for putting an end to transgression…” (Daniel 9:24). Take note that it is the New Testament that unfolds the meaning of this mysterious Old Testament number as our calculation above supports. The fact that the same angel is the messenger in both the Annunciation to Mary and in the apparition to Daniel links Daniel 9:24 to Luke 1:26-38. This suggests that the lasting integrity that the Angel Gabriel promised to Daniel began to unfold with Jesus. The Incarnation of Jesus fulfilled God’s promise of salvation, and Mary played an important part of this fulfillment. Like Mary may God also use us as instruments for the fulfillment of his plans! – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website:www.frdan.org.
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