DECEMBER
10 MEMORIAL OF OUR LADY OF LORETO
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| The house of the Holy Family at Loreto, photographer and date are unknown |
Below
are the readings suggested by the USCCB for this Optional Memorial.
Reading
1:
Isaiah
7:10-14; 8:10
The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying:
Ask
for a sign from the Lord, your God;
let
it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!
But
Ahaz answered,
"I
will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!"
Then
Isaiah said:
Listen,
O house of David!
Is
it not enough for you to weary people,
must
you also weary my God?
Therefore
the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the
virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,
and
shall name him Emmanuel,
which
means "God is with us!"
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Commentary on Is
7:10-14; 8:10
In
the first part of this reading, the prophet attempts to reassure the king as
Jerusalem comes under threat of attack from Syria. King Ahaz is offered a
sign by the Prophet Isaiah. However, Ahaz refuses the sign because it would
indicate that God was intervening on the prophet’s side and he did not want to
accept that.
The
sign that would be given, in spite of the King’s refusal, is the oracle we
understand as referring to the perfect realization of the promise of a Davidic
dynasty in the birth of the Messiah – Christ Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary.
“The
sign proposed by Isaiah was concerned with the preservation of Judah in the
midst of distress (cf Isaiah 7:15, 17), but more
especially with the fulfillment of God's earlier promise to David (2 Samuel 7:12-16) in the coming of
Immanuel (meaning, 'With us is God') as the ideal king (cf. Isaiah 9:5-6; 11:1-5). The
Church has always followed St. Matthew in seeing the transcendent fulfillment
of this verse in Christ and his Virgin Mother.”[3]
"The
child, the son, is the most significant part of the sign. If the prophecy
refers to the son of Ahaz, the future King Hezekiah, it would be indicating
that his birth will be a sign of divine protection, because it will mean that
the dynasty will continue. If it refers to another child, not yet known, the
prophet's words would mean that the child's birth could manifest hope that 'God
was going to be with us,' and his reaching the age of discretion (v. 16) would
indicate the advent of peace; the child's birth would, then, be the sign that
'God is with us.'" [4]
CCC:
Is 7:14 497
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Responsorial
Psalm: Luke
1:46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 52-53, 54-55
R. (49) The
Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
or:
R. O
Blessed Virgin Mary, you carried the Son of the eternal Father.
“My
soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my
spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
R. The
Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
or:
R. O
Blessed Virgin Mary, you carried the Son of the eternal Father.
“For
he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From
this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty
has done great things for me,
and
holy is his Name.”
R. The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
or:
R. O
Blessed Virgin Mary, you carried the Son of the eternal Father.
“He
has mercy on those who fear him
in
every generation.
He has
shown the strength of his arm,
he has
scattered the proud in their conceit.”
R. The
Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
or:
R. O Blessed Virgin Mary, you carried the Son
of the eternal Father.
“He
has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and
has lifted up the lowly.
He has
filled the hungry with good things,
and
the rich he has sent away empty.”
R. The
Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
or:
R. O
Blessed Virgin Mary, you carried the Son of the eternal Father.
“He
has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he
has remembered his promise of mercy,
the
promise he made to our fathers,
to
Abraham and his children forever.”
R. The
Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
or:
R. O
Blessed Virgin Mary, you carried the Son of the eternal Father.
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Commentary on Lk 1:46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 52-53, 54-55
We
are given a selection from the Magnificat, the beautiful Canticle of Mary. Her
song of thanksgiving and humility captures the saintliness that has become
synonymous with our image of Mary the Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven, and
the Mother of the Church. In her dedication of the service she offers to God as
vessel of the Messiah she sets the stage for the humble birth of Jesus.
CCC:
Lk 1:46-55 722, 2619, 2675; Lk 1:46-49 2097; Lk 1:48 148, 971, 2676, 2676; Lk 1:49 273, 2599, 2807, 2827; Lk 1:50 2465; Lk 1:54-55 706; Lk 1:55 422
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Gospel:
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.
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Commentary on Lk 1:26-38
This
passage, from St. Luke’s Gospel, is the story of Mary being informed by the
archangel Gabriel that she has been chosen for the great privilege of bearing
the Savior of the world. St. Mary graciously accepts this honor, although with
very human fear, indicating that her free will is at play. This response makes
her obedience to God’s will more powerful. It is proposed that, with this
acceptance, Mary entered into a vow of perpetual virginity because of the
demands of Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord
himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a
son, and shall name him Immanuel."
In
St. Luke’s story of the Annunciation, the archangel Gabriel comes to Mary and
tells her she will bear a son and name him Jesus (the eternal implication of
this statement is made clear in the greeting which presupposes knowledge of
Mary’s entire existence). Mary confirms the title “Virgin” given by the author
as she questions Gabriel saying: “How can this be, since I have no relations
with a man?” Even though she does not understand, Mary accepts her role and
is told that the Holy Spirit will be the agent of the life within her. She then
utters those amazing words: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May
it be done to me according to your word."
This
announcement is parallel to Zechariah’s news about John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-23), which is also delivered
by the archangel Gabriel. This passage clearly identifies Jesus as Son of David
and Son of God, thus linking it with the messianic predictions from the Old
Testament.
CCC:
Lk 1:26-38 497, 706, 723, 2571;
Lk 1:26-27 488; Lk 1:26 332; Lk 1:28-37 494; Lk 1:28 490, 491; Lk 1:31 430, 2812; Lk 1:32-33 709; Lk 1:32 559; Lk 1:34 484, 497, 505; Lk 1:35 437, 484, 486, 697; Lk
1:37-38 494; Lk 1:37 148, 269, 273, 276; Lk
1:38 64, 148, 510, 2617, 2677,
2827, 2856
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Reflection:
Through
our sacred history, as told through the scripture, God has promised his help
and support, sometimes in miraculous ways.
He gave Isaiah a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And Mary herself was graced by God to have
his abundant grace and to receive a special place in his heavenly kingdom. For our Holy Mother’s part, she has been most
active in reminding us of her son’s love.
She has reminded the peoples of the Americas and in various places and
times around the globe of her constant care through signs and wonders.. She reminds us so we would not lose hope. We
understand that even when all seems hopeless and there is no escaping terrible consequences, we must not
lose hope because, with God, all things are possible.
We
know this of course. We see the gift
Christ himself gives us each time simple bread is transubstantiated, and his
body is presented to us in the Eucharist. Even that constant reminder has lost
impact as more and more of the faithful do not accept that miracle. Throughout history, God has decided that
something bigger was needed, more spectacular, impossible, to shake us up and
remind us that God so loved us that he sent his Only Begotten Son, the Virgin
Mary’s child, that we might have life eternally.
The
miracle of the house of the Holy Family, now located in Loreto, Italy: According to the history of this amazing
place, angels have kept it from destruction by moving it bodily first from
Palestine to Europe (after having twice protected it from destruction that
ruined the basilicas erected over it in that country) and then to its current
location. That this was indeed miraculous is unquestioned (it has no foundation
and sits partially on a road and partially on a farmer’s field). Our Lady is attributed with commanding those
angels.
Pax
[1]
The photograph is The house of the Holy Family at Loreto, photographer and date
are unknown.
[2] The
readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm
and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
[3] NAB
footnote on Isaiah 7: 10ff.
[4] The
Navarre Bible: “Major Prophets”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002,
p.73.
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