Hôm nay toàn thể Giáo hội Công giáo
chúng ta vui mừng với niềm hân hoan trong ngày lễ Đức Mẹ Vô Nhiễm nguyên tội.
"Hát lên mừng CHÚA một bài ca mới, vì Người đã thực
hiện bao kỳ công.." (Ps 98: 1) Vâng đúng thế, sự kỳ diệu thực sự là Thiên Chúa đã kêu mời Đức Maria,
một người thiếu nữ Israel, được sinh ra trong sự tinh khiết và tinh tuyền. Và Chúa là Thiên Chúa đã chọn cô để làm Mẹ con của Ngài. Đây chính là dấu chỉ của
tình yêu mà Thiên Chúa đã dành cho Mẹ Maria, một tình yêu thật
là vô biên và vô lượng của Thiên
Chúa dành cho Mẹ Maria và cho
nhân loại.
Khi Mẹ Maria nghe lời chào
của sứ thần Garbriel, Mẹ đã khà sửng sốt,
lo sợ, nhưng sứ thần của
Thiên Chúa đã bảo đảm với mẹ tất cả đều là những việc sẽ xảy đến
đều là do những hoạt động của Chúa Thánh Thần.
"Maria,
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 Giêsu.
(Lk 1:32-32)
Ai mà không lo sợ khi nghe đến những điều như thế?
Nhưng Thiên Chúa
chắc chắn là mọi sự được thực hiện bởi Chúa Thánh Thần. Chúa Thánh Thần sẽ
ngự xuống trên mẹ, và sức mạnh của Đấng
Tối Cao phủ rợp
bóng trên Mẹ và Người con trẻ được sinh ra sẽ được gọi là đấng thánh,
là Con Thiên Chúa ..."
Làm thế nào Mẹ Maria có thể
nói không? Tất cả cuộc sống của Mẹ,
Mẹ sống rất giản dị, đơn sơ, Mẹ đã sẵn sàng vâng lời để chiều theo ý muốn của Chúa Cha. Trong cuộc sống của
mẹ tất cả là vâng phục theo ý Chúa.... "Vâng, tôi
đây là nữ tỳ của Chúa, xin Chúa cứ làm cho tôi như lời sứ thần nói". Với
lòng tin yêu và niềm tin vững chắc nơi Thiên Chúa mà mẹ đã xin Vâng cho dù là Mẹ
không biết là cuọc đời của Mẹ sẽ Thiên Chúa đưa về đâ? Mẹ đã
phó thác hoàn toàn cả của đời của mẹ nơi Thiên Chúa với sự tin tưởng và yêu thương của Thiên Chúa.
Chúng ta được mời gọi hãy sống và làm theo gương của Mẹ
để biết sẵn sàng mở lòng và tâm
trí của chúng ta cho những hành động của
Chúa Thánh Thần để chúng ta có thể
trở thành công cụ của sự cứu rỗi.
Lạy Mẹ Maria, xin Me là Kim chỉ Nam của chúng con để hướng dẫn chúng con biết cách sống theo ý Chúa
trong thế giới ngày nay và giúp
chúng con biết sẵn sàng vâng theo Thánh Ý của Thiên Chúa và biết cảm tạ Chúa với những việc kỳ diệu
mà Chúa đã thực hiện nơi chúng con bằng với tình yêu của Chúa....
Reflection December 8- The Immaculate Conception of the
Blessed Virgin Mary
Today the entire Catholic Church celebrates with joy
and exultation the feast of the Immaculate Conception. "Sing to the Lord a
new song, for He has done a marvelous thing." (Ps 98:1) Yes, marvelous
indeed is His call to Mary, a woman of Israel, born pure and immaculate. The
Lord God chose her to the mother of His Son. This is a sign of God's gratuitous
and immeasurable love for Mary and for mankind.
When Mary heard the angel's greeting, she was greatly
troubled, but the angel assured her of the action of the Holy Spirit. "Do
not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ... you will
conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call him Jesus..."
Who would not be greatly troubled? The angel continued: "The Holy
Spirit will come upon you, the power of the most high will overshadow you. The
child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God..." How could Mary
say no? All her life, she was just a simple, available, listening woman
attuned to the Father's will. Total availability seems to be part of her
innermost being... "I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me
according to your words." Although Mary did not know how far God
would take her, she surrendered herself completely, trusting and loving God.
We are invited to follow her example to open ourselves
to the action of the Holy Spirit that we may become instruments of salvation.
Mary, be our guide in today's world so that we may
become more available to God and thankful for the wonders of His love.
December 8- The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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.” Luke 1:26–28
What does it mean to be “full of grace?” This is a
question at the heart of our solemn celebration today.
Today we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Savior of the
World, under the unique title of “The Immaculate Conception.” This title
acknowledges that grace filled her soul from the moment of her conception, thus
preserving her from the stain of sin. Though this truth had been held for
centuries among the Catholic faithful, it was solemnly declared as a dogma of
our faith on December 8, 1854, by Pope Pius IX. In his dogmatic declaration he
stated:
We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine
which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her
conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view
of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free
from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to
be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.
By raising this doctrine of our faith to the level of a
dogma, the holy father declared that this truth is to be held as certain by all
the faithful. It is a truth that is found in the words of the angel Gabriel,
“Hail, full of grace!” To be “full” of grace means just that. Full! 100%.
Interestingly, the Holy Father did not say that Mary was born in a state of
Original Innocence as were Adam and Eve before they fell into Original Sin.
Instead, the Blessed Virgin Mary is declared to be preserved from sin by “a
singular grace.” Though she had not yet conceived her Son, the grace that He
would win for humanity by His Cross and Resurrection was declared to have
transcended time so as to heal our Blessed Mother at the moment of her
conception, preserving her of even the stain of Original Sin, by the gift of
grace.
Why would God do this? Because no stain of sin could be
mingled with the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. And if the Blessed
Virgin Mary were to become a fitting instrument by which God unites with our
human nature, then she needed to be preserved from all sin. Additionally, she
remained in grace throughout her life, refusing to ever turn from God by her
own free will.
As we celebrate this dogma of our faith today, turn your
eyes and heart to our Blessed Mother by simply pondering those words spoken by
the angel: “Hail, full of grace!” Ponder them, this day, reflecting upon them
over and over in your heart. Imagine the beauty of the soul of Mary. Imagine
the perfect grace-filled virtue she enjoyed in her humanity. Imagine her
perfect faith, perfect hope and perfect charity. Reflect upon every word she
spoke, being inspired and directed by God. She truly is The Immaculate Conception.
Honor her as such this day and always.
My mother and my queen, I love you and honor you this
day as The Immaculate Conception! I gaze upon your beauty and perfect virtue. I
thank you for always saying “Yes” to the will of God in your life and for
allowing God to use you with such power and grace. Pray for me, that as I come
to know you more deeply as my own spiritual mother, I may also imitate your
life of grace and virtue in all things. Mother Mary, pray for us. Jesus, I
trust in You!
December 8- The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, you have freed me
from slavery to sin and introduced me into your divine life as your child. Help
me to imitate Mary, your immaculate daughter, and attain the holiness to which
you have called me.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Mother of the People of God: Mary, the
Immaculate Conception, is our mother. She is full of grace from the first
moment of her existence. Since grace makes us like Christ, Mary is the most
perfect expression of Christ’s action that transforms our humanity. She is the
feminine manifestation of all that Christ’s grace can accomplish in a human
being (Mater Populi Fidelis, 1). Mary shared in Christ’s saving work and
victory over the ancient serpent (see Genesis 3:15). She is truly the Daughter
of Zion who received and transmited the joy of salvation. She cooperated in
Christ’s work of redemption through faith and obedience, so that the faithful
might be born in the Church. In this way, she is called the “Mother of the
Faithful People of God.”
2. Redeemed by Christ: Today, we celebrate the
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. This dogma, defined
by Blessed Pope Pius IX, “highlights the primacy and unicity of Christ in the
work of Redemption, for it teaches that Mary — the first to be redeemed — was
herself redeemed by Christ and transformed by the Spirit, prior to any possible
action of her own. From this special condition of being the first redeemed by
Christ and the first transformed by the Holy Spirit, Mary is able to cooperate
more intensely and profoundly with Christ and the Spirit, becoming the
prototype, model, and exemplar of what God wants to accomplish in every person
who is redeemed” (Mater Populi Fidelis, 14). Mary’s cooperation in the
work of salvation is the fruit of the initiative of God the Father, who looked
upon Mary’s lowliness, it springs from the self-emptying of the Son, who
humbled himself by taking the form of a servant, and it is the effect of the
grace of the Holy Spirit, who prepared Mary’s heart to respond at the
Annunciation and throughout her entire life in communion with her Son (Mater
Populi Fidelis, 15).
3. Mary in the Unique Mediation of Christ: Jesus Christ is the
one mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5-6). But Christ’s unique
mediation is also mysteriously inclusive: “He enables various forms of
participation in his salvific plan because, in communion with him, we can all
become, in some way, cooperators with God and ‘mediators’ for one another (see
1 Corinthians 3:9)” (Mater Populi Fidelis, 28). Christ has the power to
elevate his brothers and sisters to make them capable of a genuine cooperation
in the accomplishment of his plans. Mary’s mediation takes place in a maternal
way. Her spiritual motherhood springs from her physical motherhood of the Son
of God: “By physically bearing Christ — through her free, believing acceptance
of that mission — Mary also, in faith, gave birth to all Christians who are
members of the Mystical Body of Christ” (Mater Populi Fidelis, 35). As
our mother, she intercedes for us. Mary accompanies our prayers from heaven
with her maternal intercession (see Mater Populi Fidelis, 41).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you saved your
mother and preserved her from the stain of original sin. She responded to your
grace perfectly. I desire to imitate her as best I can and, with your grace, to
grow in holiness and perfection.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Trong Mùa Vọng
này, chúng ta hãy chuẩn bị tâm hồn để đón
mừng
một Ngày hồng ân, một ngày mà Thiên Chúa
đãm yêu Thương của Ngài đến
với nhân loại và con người chúng ta. Đó là một tình yêu tuyệt ,
một hồng ân bao la vì Ngài đã đem chính Con một của Ngài là Emmanuel,
"Thiên Chúa ở cùng chúng ta"
xuống trần gian để sống giữa chúng ta. Và cũng là Thiên Chúa đấng
mà chúng ta hằng tôn thờ.
Hôm nay ngày 6 tháng 12, Giáo hội cử
hành lễ kính thánh Juan Diego, một người thổ (dân
hay người dân tộc mọi) xứ Mexico, ông đúng là một mô hình của sự khiêm nhường với
một đức tin đơn sơ. Tên gốc của ông là Cuauhtlatoatzin
và ông là một người dân tộc nghèo gốc
Aztec. Theo những lời được kể lại, Đức Trinh Nữ Maria
đã hiện ra với Juan Diego tại đồi Tepeyac vùng sa mạc toàn
là cây xương rồng vào sáng sớm ngày 09 tháng 12, 1531. Với những lời được ông kể lại, là Đức Trinh Nữ Maria đã xuất hiện với
ông qua hình ảnh một cô gái trẻ
15 tuổi chung quanh cô được những ánh sáng chiếu
toả ra và cố đã nói với Juan Diego bằng tiếng thổ dân (tiếng mẹ đẻ của ông
ta) . Cô đã yêu cầu ông đến
gặp Đức Giám Mục địa phương xây một ngôi
nhà
thờ ngay tại đây để
vinh danh Mẹ. Ông Juan Diego
đã do dự bởi vì ông
nói với Mẹ rằng ông là một thổ dân ngu đần
và không ai có thể tin được ông cả. Nhưng anh vẫn cố gắng đến toà tổng Giám kể câu chuyện của mình cho Đức Tổng Giám Mục TGP Mexico City lúc đó. Sau khi nghe ông nới về sự kiện trên đối Tepeyac ĐTG đã chỉ dẫn cho
ông ngài trở về đồi Tepeyac
và xin "cô ấy" cho
một dấu lạ để chứng
minh danh tính của cô ấy. Dấu lạ đầu tiên là đức Mẹ đã chữa lành
bệnh của người chú
của ông Juan. Sau đó, Đức Mẹ đã nói với ông Juan Diego đi
nhạt những đoá hoa trên đồi Tepeyac Hill. Mặc dù nó là mùa đông và không
có hoa nào mà nở được
ngay cả những hao cây xương rồng… Ông Juan Diego
nghe lời Đức Mẹ và đã nhặt được bao nhiêu hoa hồng loại Castilian, loại hoa hồng không thể
nào trồng được hay có bán ở Mexico. Đức Mẹ đã sắp xếp những bông hoa trong cáo áo tilma (áo khoác ngàoài diệt bằng sơi
cây xương rồng) của Juan Diego và
khi Juan Diego đến toà TGM mở chiếc áo choàng
của mình trước mặt Đức Giám mục vào ngày
12, những bông hoa rơi xuống sàn nhà, và hình của Đức
Trinh Nữ Guadalupe đã hiện ra và
in trên chiếc áo khoác tilma của Juan Dieago một cách thật kỳ diệu.
Tới
bây giờ Vương Cung Thánh Đường Đức
Mẹ Guadalupe đẵ
được xây rất to trên đồi Pepeyac đó và bức
hình Đức mẹ hiện in trên chiếc áo tilma của Juan Diego vẫn còn được giữ
lại ở đây.
Ngày 31 tháng 7 năm 2002, Đức Giáo Hoàng Gioan Phaolô II
đã phong
hiển thánh Juan Diego trước khi một
đám đông 12 triệu người, và một năm sau đó trong
lịch chung của Giáo
Hội Rôma, đã chọn
ngày 9 tháng 12 nhứ thánh Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin và ngày 12 tháng 12 để mừng lễ Đức Mẹ Guadalupe.Các
quốc gia vùng Bác Mỹ (Mexico, Hoa Kỳ, Cannada đã chọn Đức Mẹ Gaudalupe là bộn mạng
chung của họ..
Xin mẹ Gualalupe cầu bầu cho chúng
con và giúp chúng con biết vững Tin vào Tình Yêu Của Chúa và xin cho chúng được
biết bắt chước gương thánh Juan Diego biết sống đời sống đon sơ, giản dị và biết vâng theo ý
thánh Chúa.
Reflection:
In Advent, we prepare ourselves to celebrate the feast
of God's love for us which was so great that He sent His own son to be
Emmanuel, "God with us" and to be God in pursuit of us.
Our saint for today is Juan Diego, an Indian native of
Mexico, a model of humility and simple faith. His native name was
Cuauhtlatoatzin and he was a poor Indian Aztec. According to tradition, the
Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill in the early morning of Dec.
9, 1531. in his description, she appeared to be a young girl of 15 surrounded
by lights and spoke to Juan Diego in his native language. She asked that a
church be built at that site in her honor. Juan Diego was hesitant because he
said he was a nobody and lacked credibility. But still he tried to tell
his story to the Archbishop of Mexico City who instructed him to return to
Tepeyac Hill, and ask the "lady" for a miraculous sign to prove her
identity. The first sign was the Virgin's healing of Juan's uncle. Then the
Lady told Juan Diego to gather flowers from the top of Tepeyac Hill. Although
it was winter and flowers were no longer in bloom, Juan Diego found
Castilian roses, not native to Mexico. The Virgin arranged the flowers in
Diego's tilma cloak and when Diego opened his cloak before the bishop on
December 12, the flowers fell to the floor, and in their place on the fabric of
the tilma was the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, miraculously imprinted
there.
Now the Basilica of Our
Lady of Guadalupe stands on that site and the icon imprinted on Juan Diego's
tilma is displayed there. In July 31, 2002, the Pope canonized Juan Diego
before a crowd of 12 million, and later that year included in the General Calendar
of the Roman Rite, as optional memorials, the liturgical celebrations of Saint
Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (December 9) and Our Lady of Guadalupe (December
12).
Meditation: Zechariah 2:14-17 Our Lady of Guadalupe
I am coming to dwell among you, says the Lord.
(Zechariah 2:14)
If you want to give your faith a boost, reflect on the events surrounding
today’s feast. One December morning in 1531, the Virgin Mary appeared to a
Mexican peasant named Juan Diego on his way to Mass. The local bishop didn’t
believe Juan Diego’s story until he showed him fresh roses—which didn’t even
grow in that locale, much less in winter—and a miraculous image of the Virgin
imprinted on his cloak. On seeing the image, the bishop fell to his knees. He
didn’t need any more proof!
That image did much more
than convince one bishop. It changed the entire history of the Americas! The
missionaries who had come to the New World were finding it hard to convert the
Aztecs, who practiced human sacrifice and had never heard about a loving God.
But this miraculous image was able to do what the missionaries could not.
Millions of Aztecs who heard Juan Diego’s story and saw the image were
converted to Christ.
What does this story of
mass conversion tell us about our lives today? That God isn’t bound by time and
space. He still wants to work miracles. It’s not a question of whether he is
able to bless us. It’s a question of whether we are hungry enough to receive
his blessings! As he said to Israel so long ago, he says to us now: “Sing and
rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you” (Zechariah
2:14).
What miracles might happen
today? You may know someone who is far from the Lord. It is possible that he or
she might be overwhelmed by God’s love—out of the blue—and begin to experience
conversion. It can happen. You may be concerned for the victims of violence in
your hometown. Your prayers of intercession may bring God’s healing touch to
them and help them run into his loving embrace. Who knows? Mary may appear in a
new place and bring about mass conversions, just as she did in Mexico five
hundred years ago.
May we never forget that our God is a God of the miraculous!
“Lord, today I will dare
to hope in you. I know you can do whatever I ask in your name. Jesus, I trust
in you. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for all your children!”
Reflection:
To be chosen by God to carry our His plans is a
tremendous privilege and responsibility. There is no prerequisite to
being picked, only complete faith in Him. He did not choose an earthly queen or
an aristocratic woman to be the vessel of salvation. He chose a humble young
virgin who burned with hope and trust in His promises.
When God chooses someone to do His will, He showers
awesome grace and joy on those who say "yes" and put their trust in
Him. Mary was full of this grace and joy, which is why Elizabeth and the child
in her womb knew at once that the Savior was with her. She believed and
the Lord filled her with the Holy Spirit – a gift to know and experience the
presence of God. The Holy Spirit is the way in which God reigns within each of
us.
Do you live in the joy and knowledge of God's presence
in you through the Holy Spirit? As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our
Savior, ask the Holy Spirit to come into your heart that you may feel and
experience the presence of God in your life today.
'Come Holy Spirit, I need you. Come, Holy Spirit, I
pray. Come with your strength and your power. Come in your own special
way.'
December 8- The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, you have
freed me from slavery to sin and introduced me into your divine life as your
child. Help me to imitate Mary, your immaculate daughter, and attain the
holiness to which you have called me.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Old Eve: One of the
main biblical foundations for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is
her identity as the New Eve. The First Reading, from Genesis, invites us to
contemplate how the old Eve fell from grace and into sin along with her
husband, the old Adam. We should recall that Adam and Eve were
created “very good” (Genesis 1:31) and without the stain of sin. When Adam and
Eve listened to the temptations of the serpent and fell into sin by eating from
the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, they disobeyed God, broke their
relationship with God, lost divine grace, and could no longer eat of the tree
that gave eternal life. The old Adam and Eve welcomed the lie of the ancient
serpent and thought that they could be divine by defining good and evil for
themselves. This was a false path, one that did not lead to a continued share
in the divine life. By sinning and choosing evil instead of the good, they lost
the gift of immortality and brought upon themselves the sufferings of toil,
pain in childbirth, and death itself.
2. The New Eve: The New Testament
subtly alludes to Mary as the New Eve in various ways. We see this especially
in the Gospel of John, where Jesus, on the seventh day and at the Wedding of
Cana, calls Mary “woman” (John 2:4). Unlike Eve, who invited Adam to sin and
lose grace, Mary, the New Eve, invites her Son, the New Adam, to perform the
first of his signs of salvation by turning water into wine. Jesus also calls
Mary “woman” at the foot of the cross (John 19:26), precisely when the New
Adam, the offspring of the New Eve, is crushing the head of the ancient
serpent. By using the title “woman,” Jesus is pointing to Mary as the New Eve,
since she is the one who fulfills the prophecy of Genesis 3:15. Mary is the
holy mother of the one who conquered Satan and undid the fall of Adam and Eve
through dying on the tree of the Cross. Death came through Eve, the mother of
all the living, who rebelliously disobeyed God; new life came through Mary, the
Mother of the Messiah and the Church, who lovingly obeyed God.
3. Free from Sin and Full of Grace: The first Eve was created without sin. Mary, the New Eve, was
conceived and created without sin. She is the Immaculate Conception, who
maintained her soul without stain of sin throughout her entire earthly life.
When the angel Gabriel greets Mary, he does so with a title. He calls her “Full
of Grace.” It is difficult to render the Greek word, kecharitomene,
into English. It means something like, “having been graced to the full and
continuing to be graced.” Mary is a vessel that has been and is now filled with
divine life. God endowed Mary with an abundance of grace to prepare her to
become the Mother of his Son, Jesus Christ, and be a model of holiness and
blessedness for her children in the Church. Mary, the Church teaches, was saved
by her Son and sanctified from the first moment of her existence and persevered
from the stain of original sin and the inclination to sin that we experience
(see Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, 105).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you saved your mother and preserved her from the stain of
original sin. She responded to your grace perfectly. I desire to imitate her as
best as I can and work with your grace to grow in holiness and perfection.
December 8- The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed
Virgin Mary
Opening Prayer: Heavenly
Father, draw me into this time of prayer with you, on this feast day of your
mother. Your whole Church rejoices today, in Heaven and on earth, for this
singular privilege that you wished to give your mother: In anticipation of the
saving merits of Jesus Christ, you wished to preserve her from the stain of
original sin. Let me enter into this time of prayer and be moved in awe, as you
wished to be, by the beauty of your mother’s fiat. May her words also take
flesh in my own life, Jesus.
Encountering Christ:
Her Name Was Mary: The Evangelist St. Luke introduced this young woman to us
simply: “and the virgin’s name was Mary.” The angel’s title reflected the truth
that she is filled with grace, with God’s life in her soul. He made the
invitation on God’s behalf, and she pondered it. Yet, was her soul so united to
God that thinking about something to herself was also a sharing of it with the
Lord? As she pondered what this might mean, was she not also asking God to help
her know how to respond to him? So bound was her heart to his that she did
nothing alone; everything was shared with him. How different would our lives be
if we strove to live in the same way?
Heaven Meets Earth as Never Before: What other moment in the history of humanity has existed,
quite like this—where God was ready to enter the world he created in a way
never imagined before, taking upon himself our human nature and becoming like
us, in all things but sin, so as to save us? St. Bernard and many others
contemplated this scene in which the messenger of God approached a young girl
while the rest of the created world, all the angels and patriarchs, waited in
anticipation and suspense for her reply. In this moment of prayer, let us ask
for the grace to enter into that moment, to experience that suspense and great
admiration for Mary’s free and loving response to God.
Earth Responds to Heaven as Never Before: What other moment in history has a child offered so
perfect and complete a response to her Father’s daring invitation? What other
fiat offered such perfect beauty, purity, and homage to the living God? In the
sincere offering and acceptance of this young girl before her Lord, all the
fíats of the Old Covenant found fulfillment, and yours and mine also find a
home. May our hearts be moved by this wonder: God wished to make himself
vulnerable to Mary’s response, and he opens himself to receive our fiats as
well.
Conversing with Christ: Jesus, I wish to let this truth settle and make a
home in my heart: You invite me, as you invited your Mother, to cooperate with
God in the plan of salvation of the world. Let this scene and these truths
resonate in my heart, Jesus, and bring your desires to take flesh in my life:
fiat. Mother, may I be drawn into your fiat, in awe, with a desire to love and
give myself to God too.
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