The Holy Spirit’s overshadowing of Virgin Mary foreshadows of being freed from any contagion

December 12, 2015

  

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Saints of the Day: Saint Valery, Abbot (565-622),  Saint Finian, Bishop (c. 549)

Reading 1

Zechariah 2:14-17

14Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD. 15Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day, and they shall be His people, and He will dwell among you, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.

16The LORD will possess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and He will again choose Jerusalem. 17Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD! For He stirs forth from His holy dwelling.

OR Revelation 11:19a ; 12:1-6a, 10ab

19aGod’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant could be seen in the temple.

12:1A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 12:2She was with Child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. 12:3Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. 12:4Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her Child when she gave birth. 12:5She gave birth to a Son, a male Child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 12:6aThe woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God.

10aThen I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, 10band the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed.”

Responsorial Psalm

Judith 13:18bcde, 19

R. (15:9d) You are the highest honor of our race.

18aBlessed are you, daughter, 18bby the Most High God, 18cabove all the women on earth; 18dand blessed be the LORD God, 18ethe creator of heaven and earth.

R. You are the highest honor of our race.

19Your deed of hope will never be forgotten by those who tell of the might of God.

R. You are the highest honor of our race.

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, deserving of all praise; from you rose the sun of justice, Christ our God.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Luke 1:26-38

26The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.

28And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” 29But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

30Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32He 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, 33and He will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of His Kingdom there will be no end.”

34But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” 35And 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.

36And 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; 37for nothing will be impossible for God.”

38Mary 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.

OR Luke 1:39-47

39Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, 40where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the Infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, 42cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

43And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. 45Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

46And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; 47my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” 

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Notes on Readings:

[1] Revelation 12:1-14:20 - This central section of Revelation portrays the power of evil, represented by a dragon, in opposition to God and His people. First, the dragon pursues the woman about to give birth, but her son is saved and "caught up to God and His throne" (Revelation 12:5. Then Michael and his angels cast the dragon and his angels out of heaven (Revelation 12:7-9). After this, the dragon tries to attack the boy indirectly by attacking members of his church (Revelation 12:13-17). A beast, symbolizing the Roman empire, then becomes the dragon's agent, mortally wounded but restored to life and worshiped by all the world (Revelation 13:1-10). A second beast arises from the land, symbolizing the antichrist, which leads people astray by its prodigies to idolize the first beast (Revelation 13:11-18). This is followed by a vision of the Lamb and His faithful ones, and the proclamation of imminent judgment upon the world in terms of the wine of God's wrath (Revelation 14:1-20).

[2] Revelation 12:1 - The woman adorned with the sun, the moon, and the stars (images taken from Genesis 37:9-10) symbolizes God's people in the Old and the New Testament. The Israel of old gave birth to the Messiah (Revelation 12:5) and then became the new Israel, the church, which suffers persecution by the dragon (Revelation 12:6, 13-17); compare with Isaiah 50:1; 66:7; Jeremiah 50:12. This corresponds to a widespread myth throughout the ancient world that a goddess pregnant with a savior was pursued by a horrible monster; by miraculous intervention, she bore a son who then killed the monster.

[3] Revelation 12:2 - Because of Eve's sin, the woman gives birth in distress and pain (Genesis 3:16); compare with Isaiah 66:7-14.

[4] Revelation 12:3 - Huge red dragon: the Devil or Satan (compare with Revelation 12:9; 20:2), symbol of the forces of evil, a mythical monster known also as Leviathan (Psalm 74:13-14) or Rahab (Job 26:12-13) ; Psalm 89:11). Seven diadems: these are symbolic of the fullness of the dragon's sovereignty over the kingdoms of this world; compare with Christ with many diadems (Revelation 19:12).

[5] Revelation 12:5 - Rule . . . iron rod: fulfilled in Revelation 19:15; compare with Psalm 2:9. Was caught up to God: reference to Christ's ascension. 

[6] Revelation 12:6 - God protects the persecuted church in the desert, the traditional Old Testament place of refuge for the afflicted, according to the typology of the Exodus; see the note on Revelation 11:2 .

[7] Luke 1:32 - Son of the Most High: compare with Luke 1:76 where John is described as "prophet of the Most High." "Most High" is a title for God commonly used by Luke (Luke 1:35, 76; 6:35; 8:28; Acts 7:48; 16:17).

[8] Luke 1:34 - Mary's questioning response is a denial of sexual relations and is used by Luke to lead to the angel's declaration about the Spirit's role in the conception of this child (Luke 1:35). According to Luke, the virginal conception of Jesus takes place through the holy Spirit, the power of God, and therefore Jesus has a unique relationship to Yahweh: He is Son of God. 

[9] Luke 1:26-38 - The announcement to Mary of the birth of Jesus is parallel to the announcement to Zechariah of the birth of John. In both the angel Gabriel appears to the parent who is troubled by the vision (Luke 1:11-12, 26-29) and then told by the angel not to fear (Luke 1:13, 30). After the announcement is made (Luke 1:14-17, 31-33) the parent objects (Luke 1:18, 34) and a sign is given to confirm the announcement (Luke 1:20, 36). The particular focus of the announcement of the birth of Jesus is on his identity as Son of David (Luke 1:32-33) and Son of God (Luke 1:32, 35).

[10] Luke 1:36-37 - The sign given to Mary in confirmation of the angel's announcement to her is the pregnancy of her aged relative Elizabeth. If a woman past the childbearing age could become pregnant, why, the angel implies, should there be doubt about Mary's pregnancy, for nothing will be impossible for God. 

[11] Luke 1:43 - Even before his birth, Jesus is identified in Luke as the Lord.

[12] Luke 1:45 - Blessed are you who believed: Luke portrays Mary as a believer whose faith stands in contrast to the disbelief of Zechariah (Luke 1:20). Mary's role as believer in the infancy narrative should be seen in connection with the explicit mention of her presence among "those who believed" after the resurrection at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:14).