IV SUNDAY OF ADVENT (B)

Sunday, December 24, 2023
Luke 1:26-38

“Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered 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. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.”
(Luke 1:34-38)

The human mind struggles to conceive what happened after centuries of prophecy and Messianic anticipation: the incarnation of the Son of God.

In Genesis chapter 3, we read about the consummation of original sin, which opened the door to all that is evil, not only around us and in others but also within each of us, in our innermost selves and in the depths of all generations that will follow. Something spiritual and profound was broken: trust in God the Father was lost!

The protagonist of that remote event was the mother of all the living: Eve, who, entering into dialogue with the serpent, was seduced by it. However, it must be recognized that Eve was free, as was Adam. It is a concept that we are unable to grasp in its profound meaning because we are marked by sin, and despite the salvation already at work in us, we are not fully free.

Well, after millennia, another female figure, a girl from Nazareth, placed in the same condition as Eve – that is, without the influence of sin, according to the dogma of the Immaculate Conception – says YES, even without understanding God’s plan for her, expressed by the unimaginable message of the Annunciation. Mary performs an act of faith that is, in reality, an act of trust… here I am! Mary’s unconditional ‘yes’ initiated God’s plan: to become human, to enter our dimension. Mary’s ‘yes’ gave Jesus to the world.

Your ‘yes,’ your adherence to the Love project that God has for you, can contribute to the birth of Jesus in the hearts of many who have not yet received him.

Fr. Giuseppe