Thứ 4, 07-10-2021 (Lc 1,26-38)
Bà Ê-li-sa-bét có thai được sáu tháng, thì Thiên Chúa sai sứ thần Gáp-ri-en đến một thành miền Ga-li-lê, gọi là Na-da-rét, gặp một trinh nữ đã thành hôn với một người tên là Giu-se, thuộc dòng dõi vua Đa-vít. Trinh nữ ấy tên là Ma-ri-a.
Sứ thần vào nhà trinh nữ và nói: "Mừng vui lên, hỡi Đấng đầy ân sủng, Đức Chúa ở cùng bà." Nghe lời ấy, bà rất bối rối, và tự hỏi lời chào như vậy có nghĩa gì.
Sứ thần liền nói: "Thưa bà Ma-ri-a, xin đừng sợ, vì bà đẹp lòng Thiên Chúa. Và này đây bà sẽ thụ thai, sinh hạ một con trai, và đặt tên là Giê-su. Người sẽ nên cao cả, và sẽ được gọi là Con Đấng Tối Cao. Đức Chúa là Thiên Chúa sẽ ban cho Người ngai vàng vua Đa-vít, tổ tiên Người. Người sẽ trị vì nhà Gia-cóp đến muôn đời, và triều đại của Người sẽ vô cùng vô tận."
Bà Ma-ri-a thưa với sứ thần: "Việc ấy sẽ xảy ra cách nào, vì tôi không biết đến việc vợ chồng!"
Sứ thần đáp: "Thánh Thần sẽ ngự xuống trên bà, và quyền năng Đấng Tối Cao sẽ rợp bóng trên bà, vì thế, Đấng Thánh sắp sinh ra sẽ được gọi là Con Thiên Chúa. Kìa bà Ê-li-sa-bét, người họ hàng với bà, tuy già rồi, mà cũng đang cưu mang một người con trai: bà ấy vẫn bị mang tiếng là hiếm hoi, mà nay đã có thai được sáu tháng. Vì đối với Thiên Chúa, không có gì là không thể làm được."
Bấy giờ bà Ma-ri-a nói: "Vâng, tôi đây là nữ tỳ của Chúa, xin Chúa cứ làm cho tôi như lời sứ thần nói." Rồi sứ thần từ biệt ra đi.
SUY NIỆM
Mẹ Maria chính là người mẹ vĩ đại thực sự, không chỉ vì Mẹ được chọn làm Mẹ Thiên Chúa mà vì Mẹ đã đáp lại lời mời gọi của Chúa bằng cả một niềm tin siêu nhiên và tấm lòng khiêm cung siêu việt.
Mẹ Maria đã đáp lời Thiên Chúa như thế nào khi được sứ thần Gabriel truyền tin? Mẹ đã hỏi "Việc ấy sẽ xảy ra cách nào, vì tôi không biết đến việc vợ chồng!" không phải với thái độ lưỡng lự hay sự hoài nghi, nhưng là với sự kinh ngạc. Mẹ là người lắng nghe tiếng Chúa đích thực. Có lẽ ngay cả sau khi nghe sứ thần giải thích, Mẹ Maria vẫn chưa hoàn toàn hiểu được ngụ ý của những điều sứ thần truyền. Nhưng Mẹ nhận ra sứ thần được Thiên Chúa sai đến, và với niềm tín thác sâu xa, Mẹ đã chấp nhận thưa “xin vâng” với những điều vượt xa khả năng hiểu biết của Mẹ, và chắc chắn là của bất kì con người nào.
Lời đáp “Xin vâng” cho thông điệp tuyệt diệu ấy là hình mẫu của đức tin cho những ai tin vào Thiên Chúa. Mẹ được đầy ơn phúc vì đã tin rằng những gì Thiên Chúa phán là sự thật và sẽ được thi hành. Mẹ đã sẵn lòng và hăm hở làm theo ý Chúa, thậm chí điều đó dường như rất khó khăn.
Bạn hãy nghĩ mà xem, tại sao Thiên Chúa phải sai sứ thần đến truyền tin cho thiếu nữ Maria? Ngài là Thiên Chúa mà còn cần phải thông tri cho một con người bé nhỏ mọn hèn về kế hoạch toàn vẹn của Ngài, hơn nữa đó lại còn là kế hoạch cứu độ họ sao? Câu trả lời hiển nhiên là Ngài không cần, nhưng Ngài đã thực sự làm điều đó! Ngài là một Thiên Chúa Toàn Năng, luôn chảy trào tình yêu thương xót và rất đỗi dịu dàng. Bởi vậy, Ngài ban ơn phúc xuống cho chúng ta, mời gọi chúng ta cộng tác và mong chúng ta sẽ đáp lại với lòng tự nguyện, vâng theo và tin tưởng chân thành.
Khi Thiên Chúa ngỏ lời, Ngài cũng ban cho sự giúp đỡ, sức mạnh và phương tiện để đáp lại. Chúng ta có thể kháng cự lại lời mời gọi đó và đi con đường của chúng ta. Nhưng nếu biết thưa “Xin vâng” như Đức Mẹ, chúng ta sẽ được ân thưởng một cuộc sống dư đầy ơn phúc mai sau trên Thiên Đàng.
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How does God reveal his favor to us? In the psalms we pray, "Lord, show me a sign of your favor" (Psalm 86:17). In the Old Testament God performed many signs and miracles to demonstrate his love and mercy for his people, such as their deliverance from slavery in Egypt and the miraculous crossing of the Red sea on dry land (Psalm 78:43-53). When Ahaz, king of Judah and heir to the throne of David (735 B.C.) was surrounded by forces that threatened to destroy him and his people, God offered him a sign to reassure him that God would not abandon the promise he made to David and his descendants. King Ahaz, however, had lost hope in God and refused to ask for a sign of favor. God, nonetheless, gave a sign to assure his people that he would indeed give them a Savior who would rule with peace and righteousness (Isaiah 7:11ff).
The new era of salvation begins with the conception and birth of Jesus
We see the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy and the unfolding of God's plan of redemption in the events leading up to the Incarnation, the birth of the Messiah King. The new era of salvation begins with the miraculous conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary. This child to be born is conceived by the gracious action of the Holy Spirit upon Mary, who finds favor with God (Luke 1:28).
His kingdom will have no end
As Eve was the mother of all humanity doomed to sin, now Mary becomes the mother of the new Adam who will father a new humanity by his grace (Romans 5:12-21). This child to be conceived in her womb is the fulfillment of all God’s promises. He will be "great" and "Son of the Most High" and "King" and his name shall be called "Jesus" (Luke 1:31-32), which means "the Lord saves." "He will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). The angel repeats to Mary, the daughter of the house of David, the promise made to King David: "The Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end" (2 Samuel 7:12-16, Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 1:32-33).
Mary is a true hearer of the Word of God
How does Mary respond to the word of God delivered by the angel Gabriel? She knows she is hearing something beyond human capability. It will surely take a miracle which surpasses all that God has done previously. Her question, "how shall this be, since I have no husband" is not prompted by doubt or skepticism, but by wonderment! She is a true hearer of the Word and she immediately responds with faith and trust.
Mary's prompt response of "yes" to the divine message is a model of faith for all believers. Mary believed God's promises even when they seemed impossible. She was full of grace because she trusted that what God said was true and would be fulfilled. She was willing and eager to do God's will, even if it seemed difficult or costly. Mary is the "mother of God" because God becomes incarnate when he takes on flesh in her womb. When we pray the Nicene Creed we state our confession of faith in this great mystery: "For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made man".
If we say "yes" to God we can live a grace-filled life
God gives us grace and he expects us to respond with the same willingness, obedience, and heartfelt trust as Mary did. When God commands he also gives the help, strength, and means to respond. We can either yield to his grace or resist and go our own way. Do you believe in God's promises and do you yield to his grace?
"Heavenly Father, you offer us abundant grace, mercy, and forgiveness through your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Help me to live a grace-filled life as Mary did by believing in your promises and by giving you my unqualified 'yes' to your will and plan for my life."
https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/f0325bg/
In a way, this feast should be on a par with Christmas. From one point of view, it is a greater occasion than Christmas. The Child would not have been born if he had not first been conceived. However, even today when the actual moment of conception is not known with accuracy, it is the visible experience of the birth, the coming into the outside world, which makes much greater impact. We all celebrate our birth-day but not our conception-day, even though the latter is the moment when we came to be.
Together with the Trinity, an acceptance of the Incarnation is one of the pedestals which defines our Christian faith. It was at the Annunciation that the Incarnation began to become a reality. It was at this moment that “the Word was made flesh and lived among us”. Today should be a special day of praise and thanksgiving for all of us.
This event, in many ways – even for those who do not believe in the Christian message – is one of the major turning points, if not the major turning point, in the history of our planet. It was not only Christians who celebrated our entry into the Third Millennium even though they either denied or ignored or were ignorant of the conception and birth of Jesus which established the occasion.
The Gospel account of this momentous event in one sense owes a great deal to the imagery and prophecies of the Hebrew Testament as well as having a charming simplicity which belies the awesomeness of the occasion. It takes place in the home of a young girl in an obscure town looked down on by many. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” – surely one of the most ironic questions ever asked.
It is seen as the fulfilment of a prophecy which is found in Isaiah and which forms the First Reading for today. King Ahaz is offered a sign by God which he refuses. God gives him one anyway. This sign will be the birth of a child whose name will be Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us’. Even though Isaiah primarily seems to be speaking of a son for King Ahaz, the solemn name given to the child seems to indicate something more significant, a decisive intervention by God and the sending of a Messiah. So the text has been traditionally taken in the Church as a prophecy for the birth of Christ.
The particular words of the prophecy are clearly linked with the Annunciation event. “The Lord himself will give you a sign. It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son, whom she will call Immanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us”.
The Greek translation of the Hebrew Testament, known as the Septuagint, reads ‘virgin’ whereas the Hebrew original, almah, can mean a young girl or a recently married woman. The Gospel has adopted the Septuagint meaning and sees in this text a prophecy of the virginal conception of Jesus, which is affirmed in today’s Gospel reading.
The Gospel scene is also reminiscent of the announcement by God’s angel of the birth of Samson (Judges 7:1ff).
Mary, we are told, is already betrothed to a man called Joseph. This means that she is committed to be his wife but they have not come together or had conjugal relations. She is still, as the Gospel states, a virgin.
God’s emissary, the angel Gabriel, enters the house and greets her in words that alarm the young girl: “Rejoice, you who enjoy God’s favour!” The traditional greeting is “Hail, full of grace!” but the Greek chaire implies joy, the joy that the coming of the Messiah brings. And ‘grace’ (charis) is the gratuitous love of God extended to and experienced by the receiver. Mary “was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean”.
But the angel goes on to reassure Mary, although in language that must have mystified her even more. Basically she is being told that she is going to be the mother of a son, whom she is to call Jesus, which means ‘Yahweh saves’. But this is no ordinary son. The angel describes him in extraordinary language which, in fact, recalls many passages from the Hebrew Testament referring to the Messiah.
He is to be called Son of the Most High, a title which can mean the divine Son of God or the Messiah. The indications that this Son is the Messiah are indicated by the angel saying that he will be “given the throne of his father David”, that he will “reign forever” and that “his reign will have no end”.
Mary is even more puzzled and disturbed. How can she conceive a son when she has “no knowledge of man”, that is to say, when she has not yet had conjugal relations with her husband-to-be? She clearly understands that the conception is to take place very soon.
The angel replies by explaining that “the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and called Son of God”. The shadow or cloud is the creative and protective presence of the Lord. The conceiving of this child is clearly to be the direct work of the Holy Spirit. The Father is God himself and the child is the divine Son of God, who, while remaining God, will “be made flesh”. From the moment of conception the child is fully God and fully a human person. And the child is called ‘holy’ because, though like us in all things, there was no taint of sin in him. (How could or why would God sin against himself!)
It is doubtful if, even after these explanations, Mary really understood the implications of what she had been told. But she recognised the messenger as coming from God and, in deep faith and trust, accepted what she was being asked to do and be. “You see before you the Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said.” This is Mary’s fiat (‘let it be’, from the Latin version of her words) by which she said an unconditional ‘Yes’ to what God had asked of her.
Later on, when Mary is praised by woman in a crowd for having produced such a wonderful son as Jesus, Jesus had replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it”. And here is Mary’s true greatness, not so much that she was chosen to be the Mother of God but that she responded with such generosity. And, right up to the very end, she stood by her Son.
And in that she resembles Jesus himself, whose relationship to his Father is described in the Second Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews. The passage speaks of the ineffectiveness of offerings of animals for bringing reconciliation with God. It is the offering by Jesus of his own self totally to his Father which alone is effective. “God, here I am! I am coming to obey your will.” This was the essence of Jesus’ life. There was a struggle at the end as the horrors of the Passion drew near. But, after prayer made in blood and sweat, he surrendered totally: “Not my will but yours be done.” And his last words on the cross were, “It is finished.” He had emptied himself totally and given all to the Father. In this is our salvation.
Mary, too, said that ‘Yes’ in the little house in Nazareth. It was, as was said above, a historic moment in the world’s history. Things would never be the same again.
Let us thank Mary today for her unconditional ‘Yes’ and let us ask her to help us to say our ‘Yes’ to God, today and for the rest of our lives.
