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Our Lady of Holy Rosary – October 7th
Readings: Zec 2:10-13; Lk 1:26-38.
1/ First Reading: Zechariah 2:10 – 3:1 10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the LORD. 11 And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 12 And the LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.” 13 Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.
2/ Gospel: Luke 1:26-38 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How shall this be, since I have no husband?” 35 And the angel said to her, “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. 36 And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
I. THEME: The Son of God descended to live among human beings.
October is called the month of Holy Rosary, the memorial month of Jesus, the Incarnated Son, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, his mother. The lives of the two most important persons in God’s plan of salvation were weaved by many events; but today readings concentrated on the beginning event, the Annunciation of the Incarnated Jesus.
In the first reading, the prophet Zechariah prophesized about this incarnated event, through the announcing of the Israelites’ liberation from their exile. God always concerns and cares for people, especially when they were suffering in the exile. He already had a plan to set them free from the foreign power, and more than that, to set them free from the power of sin and death by letting His only son to descend and to remain with people. This son shall teach, heal and redeem people. God let the prophet Zechariah foresaw this day, so the prophet urged the Israelites in exile to rejoice because that day is coming. In the Gospel, what the prophet Zechariah announced becomes reality in the Annunciation, recorded by St. Luke. It was by the Blessed Virgin Mary’s obedience that the son of God was incarnated in her womb by the Holy Spirit’s power, to begin his mission of redeeming people.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: ” Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of you.”
There are three important facts in the Zechariah’s passage:
1.1/ God shall come and dwell with His people: This fact is repeated twice in the first two verses, 10 and 11. God not only comes to visit but also to remain with people. When Jesus came, not only to visit, but to incarnate so he could remain with people in thirty-three years; and then he established the sacrament of the Eucharist to remain with people all the days until the Last Day. This is a very special event which people should rejoice because when they have God to live with them, they shall no longer be lonely or afraid of the powers of the devil and the world.
God must punish the Israelites for a while because of their stubbornness of heart—not listening God’s correction through His prophets’ preaching; but when they recognized their sins and returned to God, He shall recover all rights and dignity for them, as the prophet announced, “The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.”
1.2/ All nations shall be joined with God’s people: The prophet foretold, “And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.” In God’s plan of salvation, He started with the Israelites as His own people; when Christ appeared, He shall let all nations join and become His people through their faith in Christ. When this thing happens—the other nations join in; the Israelites shall recognize God’s plan of salvation and must believe that Christ is sent by God.
1.3/ People’s attitude before the mystery of the Incarnation: The prophet continued, “Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.” Standing before God’s immense love, expressed through the leaving of His son from the holy place, i.e., the heaven, to descending to the world to live with people and to redeem them; people should not do anything except be silent to reflect and to feel God’s immense love for them.
2/ Gospel: The angel Gabriel announced to Virgin Mary.
2.1/ The encounter between heaven and earth: The summit of God’s plan of salvation is the coming of the Messiah, starting with the Annunciation. None can understand a powerful God, who created all things and has power on all creation, comes to one of His creatures, Mary, to ask for His Son to be incarnated in her womb. The evangelist Luke reported the Annunciation as follows: “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.””
2.2/ The mystery of salvation was revealed: The angel Gabriel talked about the child who is about to be born as follows: “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.” This is the third promise which the prophet Nathan announced to king David in the first reading. The only strange and unexpected thing about the child is, though he was the son of the Highest but belonged to David’s lineage through Joseph, his adopted father.
2.3/ The reaction of Blessed Virgin Mary: Due to her vow of virginity, Mary asked the angel Gabriel: “How shall this be, since I have no husband?” Mary’s vow of virginity pleased God because He wants His Son to be incarnated in such an immaculate and pure womb. Moreover, the prophet Isaiah also foretold about this (parthenos, Isa 7:14).
Mary, as many of us, questioned God according to human understanding: How can one be pregnant and still be a virgin? We forget about God’s power that He can do all things. The angel Gabriel explained to Mary God’s way: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”
After listening the angel’s explanation, the Virgin Mary said to him: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– In the Holy Rosary month, we should spend more time to pray with the Rosary and to meditate about God’s immense love for us through the mystery of the Incarnation.
– Imitating the Blessed Virgin Mary, we should obey and co-operate with God to bring his salvation, first for us then for people around us and all nations.