December 12, 2020
Feast of Our Lady of
Guadalupe
Lectionary: 690A
Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
Responsorial Psalm JUDITH 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.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you,
holy Virgin Mary, deserving of all praise;
from you rose the
sun of justice, Christ our God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel LK 5:17-26
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.
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.
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?
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.”
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How to Feel Joyful in Troubled Times
We can safely guess that Elizabeth was already feeling joyful, since after many infertile years she had become pregnant and, increasing her joy, she knew that she carried a son who was destined to be very special for the kingdom of God. And I'm sure she was happy to see her delightful relative, Mary.
Yet, surely Elizabeth's joy was tested by the difficulties of being pregnant at an old age and even the normal problems of everyday life. Why didn't she greet Mary with complaints about the extra weight that was making her back ache or about her husband's sin that had struck him dumb?
The scripture doesn't say that Elizabeth was filled with "joy" but that she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Her joy, which was evidenced in the greeting she gave to Mary, was a fruit of the Spirit.
How much joy do you have? If the answer is "not enough", why is that? It's been a very tough year and the troubles in the world around us will continue into the new year. But Jesus wants to give us joy. It's a joy that you already have, ready to be released, because of the presence of God's Spirit within you.
How in touch with the Spirit are you? If you don't experience joy in the difficulties of life, work at increasing your relationship with this important Third Person of the Trinity. It is the Spirit of the Father, who made Mary pregnant in order to give birth to the Savior. It is the Spirit of Jesus, whose joy within Mary's womb pre-existed his earthly human presence -- a presence which caused the unborn John to stir in that same spirit of joy
The Spirit's joy is not a feeling like happiness, which depends on outside circumstances. The Spirit's joy is an awareness that God is taking good care of you despite the outside circumstances. It's the awareness of the Spirit's inner presence.
Think about the unborn baby in Elizabeth's womb. He was incapable of understanding anything that was happening outside the womb, yet he leapt for joy. He's an example of the effect that the Holy Spirit can have on us. We don't need to see God working before we leap for joy. We don't even have to understand what God is doing.
Mary, whom we remember today for her appearance in Guadalupe, found her joy in God her savior. She did not say, "My spirit finds joy in my unborn son." Nor did she say, "My spirit finds joy in becoming the mother of God the savior." She did not yet understand how Jesus would become the savior.
Mary's joy came from the Holy Spirit. We, too, can "sing and rejoice" -- express joy again and again -- as we are told in Zechariah 2:14-17, because he who is joy has come to dwell in us and "stirs forth from his holy dwelling" which is us.
This is one very significant way in which we give birth to Jesus in today's world. When the people around us see joy as a fruit of Christian living, they are evangelized by it. Let us resolve today to keep our eyes on Jesus, the source of joy in troubled times, for our sake and for the sake of others.
Sing and rejoice! 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!
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God Bless You.....
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