Paradise Restored In Mary
Introduction
Mary leads the way for all the people who journey toward the Lord. Today the Church applies to Mary, the virgin conceived without sin, the words of the prophet: “I exult for joy in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God.” Why this joy? Because Mary is like the garden of humankind in which God lets the good seed sprout. Because she is the servant of the Lord and the image of what the Church ought to be. God is faithful to his promises and through her he gave us our Saviour. Mary is the first and the only one of all people who was kept from sin. She is paradise restored, where God and people encounter one another.
1 Reading: Genesis 3:9-15, 20
After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.” The LORD God then asked the woman, “Why did you do such a thing?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.” Then the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; on your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.” The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living.
Responsorial Psalm 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4
R. (1) Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm. R.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel. R.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise. R.
2 Reading: Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12
Brothers and sisters: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favour of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.
Alleluia: See Luke 1:28
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: The Beginning of the Fulfillment
As the “Favoured One of God,” Mary is the prophetic model of those who overcome evil. With her begins the fulfillment of God’s promises. With her, those who are one with Christ will learn to say Yes to God’s plan.
Gospel: Luke 1:26-38
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 favour 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.
Commentary
This feast is celebrated on the 8th of every December, but was carried to this day as yesterday was 2nd Sunday of Advent. However, if today’s feast is to be about more than the ‘privileges’ of Mary, we need to see it in the light of the second reading of the Mass: “God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world, to be holy and without sin in his presence” (Eph 1:4). God’s great project: a humanity that doesn’t flee from his presence, full of shame like Adam and Eve, but which he can draw to himself in Christ, through the Spirit. Mary is God’s “sign of favour to the Church at its beginning, and the promise of its perfection as the bride of Christ, radiant in beauty….” (Preface of today’s Mass). She is a model of the Church as it is going to be in God’s time. “In her there shines out already the future splendour of the Church, just as the entire blue vault of heaven is reflected in a drop of morning dew” (Raniero Cantalamessa).
Blessing
To a waiting world Mary gave a Saviour,
because she said her YES to God’s plan.
To a world waiting in our day
for meaning and hope,
we can give the peace and justice of Christ,
if we too are willing to say our YES
to God’s intentions with us and the world.
For he called us to continue the work
he began in Jesus with the cooperation of Mary.
May we respond to this call
with the blessing of almighty God:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go in peace
and give Christ to the world. R/ Thanks be to God.