24 December, 2023 | Fourth Sunday of Advent

Gospel Lk 1:26-38

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The Gospel Text:

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.

Reflections:

The  gospel tells us that Mary was “engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David”. Couples preparing to get married usually have plans all laid out for their wedding day and their future life together. Mary and Joseph sure would have had such plans. But here we have, Mary, turning everything upside down, with her ‘yes’ to the angel’s proposal, “. . . you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,” without understanding much what it all meant. Having said her yes, she knew that Joseph would be devastated, and the family, thrown into confusion. But, could she have said ‘no’? No! God had ordained from all eternity – She is the New Eve, preserved from the contagion of original sin in order to bear the promised Saviour. And we know that God set the situation right eventually. That’s why we have The Holy Family. At times, our life too will take a course other than what we have planned, causing us stress and strain. Let us turn to God during those moments and ask, ‘is this your plan?’ Sure God will whisper the answer in our hearts and reveal his will. 

Activity: 

Let us spend some time during the day and look at the situation we are in. Are there challenges we need to overcome? Let us surrender ourselves and the situation we are in and ask God to take control over our life.