December 12, 2013

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Lectionary: 690A
Reading 1 ZEC 2:14-17

Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!

Daughter Zion is a type of Mary. The Virgin Mary is the perfect daughter of God the Father.

See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.
Many 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.
The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,
and he will again choose Jerusalem.
Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD!
For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling.

God here announces to Zechariah then Jesus will be born of daughter Zion, the Virgin Mary, the perfect daughter conceived without blemish of sin.

Or RV 11:19A; 12:1-6A, 10AB

God’s temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.

St. John the apostle saw a revelation in heaven. He saw the Ark of the covenant which had been lost for centuries. Then suddenly, the Ark of the covenant was replaced by a woman clothed with the sun.

A 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.

The symbolism is clear. The woman which St. John saw in heaven is the new ark of the covenant. She is the woman who conceived the word of God in her womb. She is the woman who carried the true high priest in her womb. She is the woman who carried the true bread of life in her womb. She is Mary, the mother of God.

She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.
Then 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.
Its 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.
She 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.
The woman herself fled into the desert
where she had a place prepared by God.

St. John's vision continued, he saw Satan attacking the woman and her child. This symbolizes the persecution of Herod towards the child Jesus. Fleeing to the desert represents Jesus Mary and Joseph fleeing into Egypt.

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

And God announced that salvation had come to the earth. Amen.

Responsorial Psalm JDT 13:18BCDE, 19

R. (15:9d) You are the highest honor of our race.
Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God,
above all the women on earth;
and blessed be the LORD God,
the creator of heaven and earth.

R. You are the highest honor of our race.
Your 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.

Judith, of the Old Testament, is an image of Mary. Her action saved Israel. Mary's action, giving birth to the son of God, saved the world.

Gospel LK 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.”

I can't repeat it enough. The angel Gabriel was sent from God to proclaim God's message. That message is the praise of Mary. It is God praising Mary to his angel. And the angel obeys God and praises Mary.

Why then does any human being object to Mary being praised?

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.

The Angel also informed Mary is that she will be the mother 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.

And Mary gives her Fiat. That is to say, Mary obediently accepts the will of God.

Or LK 1:39-47

Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.

After the angel informed her as then her cousin Elizabeth was with child, Mary hastened to her aid.

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

St. Elizabeth was the first human being to proclaim the blessedness of Jesus Christ, and the blessedness of his mother. She is also the first one to recognize that Mary is the mother of God.

For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”

And Mary said:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

Mary always points us to the Lord.