 From: MorningOffering Website | The Solemnity of the Annunciation , celebrated on March 25th, honors the profound meeting between the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary, as recorded in St. Luke's Gospel. On this day St. Gabriel announced to Mary Immaculate that she would miraculously conceive a Child by the Holy Spirit, the long-awaited Messiah who would save mankind from their sins. This is the moment of the Blessed Virgin Mary's great fiat of perfect submission to the Divine will. This day on which the Church celebrates the Incarnation of Jesus Christ in the womb of His Blessed Mother is exactly nine months before the Feast of the Nativity on December 25th.
† Quote of the Day "Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven." -St. Rose of Lima Today's Meditation "[Mary] does not remain locked in her initial troubled state at the proximity of God in his angel, but she seeks to understand. So Mary appears as a fearless woman, one who remains composed even in the presence of something utterly unprecedented. At the same time she stands before us as a woman of great interiority, who holds heart and mind in harmony and seeks to understand the context, the overall significance of God's message. In this way, she becomes an image of the Church as she considers the word of God, tries to understand it in its entirety and guards in her memory the things that have been given to her." —Pope Benedict XVI, p. 33
An excerpt from Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives Daily Verse "Teach me thy way, O Lord, that I may walk in thy truth; unite my heart to fear thy name. I give thanks to thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify thy name for ever. For great is thy steadfast love toward me; thou hast delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol." -Psalm 86:11-13 |  EWTN Daily Saint | | St Dismas St. Dismas (1st c.) is the name Church tradition has given to the "Good Thief," one of the two criminals who were crucified alongside Jesus Christ on Good Friday. All we know about St. Dismas is what is mentioned of him in the Gospels: "Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, 'Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.' The other [St. Dismas] however, rebuking him, said in reply, 'Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.'" Then St. Dismas, as an expression of his faith in Christ as the Messiah, said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus replied to St. Dismas, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:39-42). The feast day of St. Dismas is March 25. | Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord Lectionary: 545 Reading 1 Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10 The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying:
Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God;
let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!
But Ahaz answered,
"I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!"
Then Isaiah said:
Listen, O house of David!
Is it not enough for you to weary people,
must you also weary my God?
Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel,
which means "God is with us!" Responsorial Psalm Psalm 40:7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 11 R. (8a and 9a) Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, "Behold I come."
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
"In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!"
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Your justice I kept not hid within my heart;
your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of;
I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth
in the vast assembly.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will. Reading 2 Hebrews 10:4-10 Brothers and sisters:
It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats
take away sins.
For this reason, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight.
Then I said, 'As is written of me in the scroll,
behold, I come to do your will, O God.'" First he says, "Sacrifices and offerings,
holocausts and sin offerings,
you neither desired nor delighted in."
These are offered according to the law.
Then he says, "Behold, I come to do your will."
He takes away the first to establish the second.
By this "will," we have been consecrated
through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all. Verse Before the Gospel John 1:14ab The Word of God became flesh and made his dwelling among us;
and we saw his glory. 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 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. | Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ! |  From Word Among Us WAU.org | Daily Meditation: Luke 1:26-38 May it be done to me according to your word. (Luke 1:38) Gabriel has presented the Lord's proposal to Mary and waits for her answer. Meditating on this feast of the Annunciation, St. Bernard of Clairvaux envisioned not only Gabriel, but all of creation awaiting Mary's answer. He wrote, "This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet." We can even imagine Jesus in some sense waiting for the answer of the one in whose flesh his own flesh will be knit together. Imagine the relief as Mary tells the angel, "May it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). God, in his mysterious providence, invited her to participate in his awesome plan of salvation. He could have accomplished his plan without her, but he didn't want to. Instead, he desired the free and willing assent of this blessed woman who was full of grace. Mary's yes to God changed the course of history. But her yes at that moment was likely not her first and definitely not her last. She surely said many yesses to God throughout her life. Yes when Jesus was lost in the Temple; yes when he left to start his ministry; yes when he said that his family consisted of anyone who obeyed his Father. Each "may it be done to me" formed and strengthened her for the role God was calling her to fulfill. We, too, are invited to say yes to God throughout our lives so that we can build a habit of cooperation with the Holy Spirit. Each of us is vital to God's plan taking on flesh in our world. Every time we say, "May it be done to me" as Mary did, we become blessed participants in God's plan of salvation. When we are criticized and want to respond in kind but we say yes to the Spirit's invitation to hold our tongue, heaven rejoices. When we see someone who is hurting and feel the call to stop what we're doing and listen to their story, we bring Jesus to them. When we respond to the Spirit and welcome a needy child into our home, our choice changes the world around us. Jesus is made visible with our every yes to God! "Blessed Mother, Mary, help me to bring Christ into the world around me!" | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Audio of 2 Cents | From today's Holy Gospel: ".. 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. ...." | From Roberto Juarez: "Mary's "yes" is not only for that moment. It is a "yes" that is renewed every day. A "yes" that will go through moments of joy and also of difficulty, until it reaches the cross. Our Christian life is also a journey of continuous responses to God.
Today's Gospel invites us to look to Mary and learn from her. Let us ask the Lord for a heart available to listen to his word, a trusting faith even when we do not understand everything, and the courage to say "yes" to God. Like the Virgin Mary, may we be able to open our lives to the action of the Holy Spirit. And may we repeat with sincerity: "Let it be done to me according to your word." end quote.
From Bishop Barron: "Friends, in today's Gospel, the angel Gabriel reveals to Mary that she will bear a son who will reign from David's throne. As background, note that God had promised that David's throne would last forever, but his line had apparently been broken in 587 BC. Six hundred years later, Gabriel appeared to Mary, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph of the house of David. Greeting her as "full of grace," the angel announced that she will conceive in her womb and bear a son: "He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High." Then comes the kicker that would have taken the breath away from any first-century Jew listening to the story: "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." What seemed to have come to an end had in fact just gone underground and was now ready to appear fully in the light. The kingly line of David was in fact unsevered, and now the full meaning of God's promise would be revealed." end quote.
In today's Holy Gospel we heard about the announcement. The Greatest Announcement on the face of the earth. Right?
When an Archangel of God speaks, something life altering is about to happen to the world. When God speaks, things come to be. And the ArchAngel Gabriel came in the Holy Will of the Father...to Mary, a female, chosen by God, to receive the seed of God. Mother Mary is open to God's Holy Will.
God overshadows her. But it is not a shadow of darkness, but one of light.
And what happens next? A Holy Incarnation.
Pay attention here.
Because she becomes the world's first tabernacle, and also the world's first monstrance of the Blessed Sacrament.
How so?
She carries Christ inside. And, she shows the light of Christ to the world.
Pay attention here! Why is this so important?
Because, God's will is at hand. And the will of the person is put into the light.
Our will, and His will.
How many times did the word "will" present itself in the Gospel today? 10 times. All from the Archangel Gabriel. 10, a perfect number that God uses.
In Catholic theology, the number 10
symbolizes completeness, divine order, and responsibility, representing the totality of a set or a full cycle of testing. It is frequently associated with the fulfillment of God's law, as seen in the Ten Commandments, which are considered a complete summary of moral duty.
What happened with our Mother's "fiat"? What about her "yes" to the Lord? It is a covenant promise that says "I Trust In The Lord, with all my heart, mind, body, my soul, and strength".
She lays her life for the Lord, for the Messiah.
How many of us can present ourselves to the Lord in His Holy Will?
The book I am listening to has 36 volumes, probably 80 to 100 hours long. And it is all about the Divine Will.
Something very important is being shown about Heaven here.
We would be wise to seek His Holy Will. To seek our Master's love. So we can desire His Holy Will.
The announcement has been made.
Let the Lord live in a Holy Human Tabernacle. You, and the Holy Eucharist.
Let His light burst forth from your eyes, your mouth, your hands, and feet, your very heart, as God desire to pour Himself out on His creation.... |  Click for Audio | Random Bible Verse 1
Romans 12:11 "Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,1 serve the Lord." . . . Word of the Lord! | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
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