Friday, December 20, 2013
3rd Week of Advent
1st Reading: Is 7:10–14
Gospel: Lk 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. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child, and she is now in her sixth month. 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)
A man unearthed a centuries-old bottle. When he uncorked it a grateful genie came out promising to grant him any request. The only condition was that his wife would benefit twice from the same request. The mention of his wife awakened his hatred towards her. “Then pluck one of my eyes”, he told the genie. His request was granted and in an instant he lost an eye. “Revenge is sweet”, he cried out. “My wife must have lost both eyes by now!”
The man was actually blinder than what he had become. He failed to see that in destroying her wife he was the necessary casualty. Hatred is more destructive to a person than his physical blindness.
This is one good reason to approach God with forgiving hearts. “Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us” cannot be rephrased. The conjunction “and” after “give us this day our daily bread” shows the intention of Jesus to link bread and mercy with one’s capacity to forgive. When one refuses to forgive, God hears his prayer as “do not give me any bread and do not forgive me because I cannot forgive my neighbors”.
An angel, not a genie, told Mary that she found favor with God. Her heart was troubled not because any deep-seated hatred was awakened. Neither did she come up with a long list of requests to take advantage of the favor she found in God. Because her heart wasn’t heavy she got God’s message correctly. It was then that salvation dawned upon humanity. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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