Alleluia! Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord! May the name of the Lord be blessed both now and for evermore! May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore! or Alleluia! From the rising of the sun to its setting praised be the name of the Lord! High above all nations is the Lord, above the heavens his glory. May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
FAUSTI - The Angelus and the Hail Mary make the Annunciation the most well-known and repeated narration of Scripture. The Christian life carries in its heart and has as its beginning and as its aim the Incarnation of the Word. All centered on this mystery, it is a continuous updating "today" of the "yes" that has attracted God to the world. Mary is the figure of every believer and of the whole Church. What has happened to her must happen to each and every one of us. The yes of the man who receives and generates the Word, from whom everything has its beginning, is the very aim of creation. God has finally found the house of which the temple is a figure. It is the encounter that He has searched from all eternity, the moment in view of which the time began, the crowning of His dream of Love, the prize of His work, the reward for His hard work. Finally, from the depths of His creation that have moved away from Him, a "yes" is raised that is capable of attracting Him. And He comes, unites and commits Himself forever. What was God's joy in being able to say to Mary: "Rejoice". The Bridegroom finally, after so many dramas, finds the Bride of His heart. Finally, His suffering has come to an end. He is embraced by those He loves. His offering finds hands that welcome it and the great arms of the world understand, conceive and embrace that without which man is not man. Love is loved, it has found a house to live in and the house of man is no longer deserted. The Angel is the presence of God in His announced Word. Our faith in His Word welcomes Himself and unites us to Him: it is the birth of God on earth and of man in heaven. The Word becomes flesh in us, without leaving us anymore, and the Angel can go and proclaim it to others, until when the mystery accomplished in Mary is accomplished among all men. The salvation of every man is to become like Mary: to say Yes to God's proposal of Love, to give flesh in His body to His eternal Word, to generate the Son in the world. To the Love of God that sought him, in disobedience and in flight, Adam answered: "I have hidden myself! (Gen 3:10). Now, in Mary, humanity itself responds. "Here I am" to the One who has always said "here I am, here I am" to those who did not seek Him (Is 65:1). God rejoices in uncontainable happiness. Love has always been rejected, now it feels welcomed. Love that has always been unloved, now he feels loved. For thousands of years, indeed, from eternity, he had waited for this moment when his creature made him the grace to say: "Here I am", so that He could fill it of Himself. The expectant man: he necessarily tends to Him, because he needs to be loved.. Thus God unites himself with him in a single flesh: it is the today of Salvation. My yes to every listened Word makes me welcome it: a piece of the history of the Word, which has taken dwelling among us, becomes the flesh of my flesh. Thus he unites himself with him in a single flesh: it is the today of Salvation. My yes to every listened Word makes me welcome it: a piece of the history of the Word, which has taken dwelling among us, becomes the flesh of my flesh. This story, as it began from Mary and has reached out to us, starts from us to become flesh in all our brothers and sisters to the ends of the earth. It is the Mission of the Church
First Reading Isaiah 11:1-16 ©
RispondiEliminaA shoot springs from the stock of Jesse,
a scion thrusts from his roots:
on him the spirit of the Lord rests,
a spirit of wisdom and insight,
a spirit of counsel and power,
a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
(The fear of the Lord is his breath.)
He does not judge by appearances,
he gives no verdict on hearsay,
but judges the wretched with integrity,
and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the land.
His word is a rod that strikes the ruthless,
his sentences bring death to the wicked.
Integrity is the loincloth round his waist,
faithfulness the belt about his hips.
The wolf lives with the lamb,
the panther lies down with the kid,
calf and lion feed together,
with a little boy to lead them.
The cow and the bear make friends,
their young lie down together.
The lion eats straw like the ox.
The infant plays over the cobra’s hole;
into the viper’s lair
the young child puts his hand.
They do no hurt, no harm,
on all my holy mountain,
for the country is filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters swell the sea.
That day, the root of Jesse
shall stand as a signal to the peoples.
It will be sought out by the nations
and its home will be glorious.
That day, the Lord will raise his hand once more
to ransom the remnant of his people,
left over from the exile of Assyria, of Egypt,
of Pathros, of Cush, of Elam,
of Shinar, of Hamath, of the islands of the sea.
He will hoist a signal for the nations
and assemble the outcasts of Israel;
he will bring back the scattered people of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.
Then Ephraim’s jealousy will come to an end
and Judah’s enemies be put down;
Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah
nor Judah any longer the enemy of Ephraim.
They will sweep down westwards on the Philistine slopes,
together they will pillage the sons of the East,
extend their sway over Edom and Moab,
and make the Ammonites their subjects.
And the Lord will dry up the gulf of the Sea of Egypt
with the heat of his breath,
and stretch out his hand over the River,
and divide it into seven streams,
for men to cross dry-shod,
to make a pathway for the remnant of his people
left over from the exile of Assyria,
as there was for Israel
when it came up out of Egypt.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 112(113):1-8 ©
Alleluia!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
May the name of the Lord be blessed
both now and for evermore!
May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or
Alleluia!
From the rising of the sun to its setting
praised be the name of the Lord!
High above all nations is the Lord,
above the heavens his glory.
May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
Alleluia!
RispondiEliminaWho is like the Lord, our God,
who has risen on high to his throne
yet stoops from the heights to look down,
to look down upon heaven and earth?
May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or
Alleluia!
From the dust he lifts up the lowly,
from the dungheap he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes,
yes, with the princes of his people.
May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation cf.Lk1:28
Alleluia, alleluia!
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!
Blessed art thou among women.
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 1:26-38 ©
'I am the handmaid of the Lord'
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
FAUSTI - The Angelus and the Hail Mary make the Annunciation the most well-known and repeated narration of Scripture. The Christian life carries in its heart and has as its beginning and as its aim the Incarnation of the Word. All centered on this mystery, it is a continuous updating "today" of the "yes" that has attracted God to the world. Mary is the figure of every believer and of the whole Church. What has happened to her must happen to each and every one of us. The yes of the man who receives and generates the Word, from whom everything has its beginning, is the very aim of creation. God has finally found the house of which the temple is a figure.
RispondiEliminaIt is the encounter that He has searched from all eternity, the moment in view of which the time began, the crowning of His dream of Love, the prize of His work, the reward for His hard work.
Finally, from the depths of His creation that have moved away from Him, a "yes" is raised that is capable of attracting Him. And He comes, unites and commits Himself forever. What was God's joy in being able to say to Mary: "Rejoice". The Bridegroom finally, after so many dramas, finds the Bride of His heart.
Finally, His suffering has come to an end. He is embraced by those He loves. His offering finds hands that welcome it and the great arms of the world understand, conceive and embrace that without which man is not man. Love is loved, it has found a house to live in and the house of man is no longer deserted. The Angel is the presence of God in His announced Word.
Our faith in His Word welcomes Himself and unites us to Him: it is the birth of God on earth and of man in heaven.
The Word becomes flesh in us, without leaving us anymore, and the Angel can go and proclaim it to others, until
when the mystery accomplished in Mary is accomplished among all men.
The salvation of every man is to become like Mary: to say Yes to God's proposal of Love, to give flesh in His body to His eternal Word, to generate the Son in the world.
To the Love of God that sought him, in disobedience and in flight, Adam answered: "I have hidden myself! (Gen 3:10). Now, in Mary, humanity itself responds. "Here I am" to the One who has always said "here I am, here I am" to those who did not seek Him (Is 65:1).
God rejoices in uncontainable happiness.
Love has always been rejected, now it feels welcomed.
Love that has always been unloved, now he feels loved. For thousands of years, indeed, from eternity, he had waited for this moment when his creature made him the grace to say: "Here I am", so that He could fill it of Himself.
The expectant man: he necessarily tends to Him, because he needs to be loved.. Thus God unites himself with him in a single flesh: it is the today of Salvation.
My yes to every listened Word makes me welcome it: a piece of the history of the Word, which has taken dwelling among us, becomes the flesh of my flesh.
Thus he unites himself with him in a single flesh: it is the today of Salvation.
My yes to every listened Word makes me welcome it: a piece of the history of the Word, which has taken dwelling among us, becomes the flesh of my flesh.
This story, as it began from Mary and has reached out to us, starts from us to become flesh in all our brothers and sisters to the ends of the earth. It is the Mission of the Church