March 25 Lent # 235 and the Annunciation # 545
105:16-17.18-19.20-21 Matthew 33:43.45-46:
Joseph, the son of Jacob, is one of the greatest righteous persons in the
whole Bible. Probably, after Abraham, he is the one we are led to imitate
on our journey during Lent. His entire story covers the last chapters of
Genesis, from chapter 37- 50. He is the son of Jacob and Rachel and his
name means God will add or let him gather. Joseph offers us an image of a
moral hero who overcomes the temptations of Potiphar's wife. She then has
him imprisoned claiming he tried to raper her. His liberation from prison
comes from his earlier gift of reading the meaning of dreams. Thus he is
appointed a vizier in the realm of Egypt. Joseph's prudence, his strength
of character, his compassion and forgiveness of his brothers is
outstanding. We Catholics apply the saying given by those in need "Go to
Joseph" to the spouse of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is married to a
Jospeh from the lineage of David. The Latin was especially bandied about
in the halls of monasteries and houses of formation before Vatican II,
namely, Ite ad Joseph. This meant ask for his intercession and you would
get it whether it was in selling or purchasing something or whether the
Church needed protection from Joseph the universal patron of the Catholic
Church.
Jesus tells us a parable about a vineyard and the masters wayward servants.
It traces the general lines of salvation history for us and shows us how
the owner of the vineyard will mete out just punishment on those who kill
his son and throw him outside the vineyard. The opponents of Jesus realize
the parable is aimed at them who are seeking to put him away or to kill
him. He will be crucified outside the city of Jerusalem. We are able to
take some lessons from both readings for our journey during this Lent.
From the first we learn how to resist temptation and how to forgive. From
the second, the Gospel, we learn from the parable our own journey in
salvation history with the desire to be good stewards and servants of the
Lord in what is entrusted to us in God's vineyard. We are led to follow
Jesus up to Jerusalem and to partake in his sufferings, death, and
resurrection by becoming creative agents of his in the work of redemptive
and unconditional love. The readings help us in living the Paschal
Mysteries of Jesus. Amen.
FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION OF OUR LORD: MARCH 25, 2011. LUKE
1:26-38.
Scripture: Lectionary #545: Isaiah 7:10-14. Psalm 40: 7-8.8-9.10.11.
Hebrews 10:4-10. Luke 1:26-38 and response before Gospel John 1:14.
We are nine months before Christmas and today's Gospel is announcing the
conception of Jesus through the narrative Luke has so masterfully created.
It is the key passage for Mary in the New Testament though each passage is
a priceless pearl. In rereading many times this passage you may realize it
differs from the Ave Maria prayer dedicated to Mary which we call the Hail
Mary. Without losing the importance the passage has for the
Christ-centered dimension of the Gospel of Luke, we turn as he did to the
person of Mary who is being greeted or hailed by a messenger, the Angel
Gabriel. The announcement says, "Rejoice, O highly favored daughter." It
is a messianic greeting that is found in several of the prophets--Joel,
Zacharia, Zephania where the same expression in the Septuagint is the one
Luke uses, "Chaire" or Rejoice. The next word is the way the Angel
supplies a new name to the person receiving the message which means a new
mission or calling in life that will effect God's people. Even though our
liturgical translation from the New American Bible is close to the Greek,
there is no word like daughter within the text except through interpreting
the feminine ending given to the verbal expression called a perfect passive
participle. Mary is called "Kecharitomene" which is literally translated
as the one, or You, (Mary) have already been blessed with loving-kindness,
that is, with the grace of God in abundance. The verb itself is
multivalent and contains the idea of someone who is graced by God, is
beautiful, is favored, etc. The verb is causative that is it effects what
it says so God is declaring what gifts Mary already possesses. It is only
used of a person, Mary, in this passage and nowhere else in the New
Testament nor in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible
called the Tanakh.
Mary thus is the focus in the first part of the Annunciation which will
through her "yes" to the Angel become an effective mission and a vocation
within her vocation to be the spouse of Joseph. The Annunciation thus is
called by the Church, the Annunciation of the Lord but we see also that it
is a vocation story for the person of Mary who will become the mother of
the Messiah mentioned in the above prophetic texts starting with the word
"Chaire" or Rejoice.
Today we may wish to take some time to meditate on the new name our
spiritual mother receives. We may see in that name her mission and
vocation that completes her relationship with God as well as her fidelity
in marriage to Joseph of the lineage of David--the messianic link for
Jesus' call to be the Messiah and Mary to be the Mother of the Messiah.
Finally, since the feast is also centered on Jesus, we may wish to link it
to his conception and the great dignity of being conceived for living a
life dedicated to the will of God. Life is for living and this Son of Mary
will show us how to do that living. We may rejoice in the many surprises
of grace that Mary is experiencing in this scene and also in our finding
grace for ourselves through the inspired text given to us through Luke a
creative and active agent of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit has a vital role
in both Mary and in us the readers of Luke. Let us rejoice and be filled
with grace on this day when we think about it whether saying, "Hail, Mary,
full of grace" or hearing or reading "Rejoice! Highly Favored One. Amen."
posted by Fr. Bert SM at 10:55 AM
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