Week 1: Saturday

The light of the moon will be like that of the sun and the light of the sun will be seven times greater (like the light of seven days). On the day the Lord binds up the wounds of His people, He will heal the bruises left by His blows. (Isaiah 30:26)

Reflection

God, while His ways are still mysterious to us, is not on the sidelines of our lives. Just as Isaiah predicted, He has come, in Jesus, to bind up the hurt of His people, and through Jesus' presence is still active in the world.

Why the Virgin Birth?

by Archbishop Fulton Sheen

Our human nature was very much like a polluted stream up until the Incarnation. Imagine a ship, for example, sailing in polluted waters. It wishes to sail in clear waters, but without the pollution coming from one into the other. How could the transfer of the ship be made except by a lock? So the ship in the foul waters would be put into a lock where there would be a separation of waters, then the ship would be raised to the level of the unpolluted waters. Now the Immaculate Conception and the virgin birth were that lock. The pollution stopped because there was no union of man and woman. It was simply woman alone who gave a human nature to Christ and began the new humanity.

Source: Through the Year With Archbishop Fulton Sheen. IgnatiusInsight.com

Gospel Reading: Luke:1:26-38

[Editor's Note: We had studied this passage on Sunday, November 25. Today we reflect further on this important lesson on the God's plan for the redemption of mankind.]

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. Luke:1:26-38

Do you think Mary, just before the Annunciation, had a sense that she was specially blessed by God?

It is our teaching that Mary was free from sin from the very moment of her acceptance of the mission from Angel Gabriel. The church also teaches that she was "full of grace."

Do you think Mary knew this or had a sense of this?

There are legends about Mary that would have us believe that she must have known.

And what about me? Do I have a sense that God has been especially at work within me, blessing me with special gifts from my early years?

After all, I was baptized and confirmed. God cleansed me of sin, poured the Holy Spirit into my inmost soul. Jesus called me by name to be his disciple. I have received Jesus himself time and time again in the Eucharist. I have joined with him in going to the Father and giving myself completely to God.

There are very unusual special works of God in me. I have been specially blessed by God, but I don't always think of it that way. Perhaps I have a hard time believing it.

Believe it and live it!

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Advent Action

Find an opportunity today to be the hands of God, and "bind up" someone's hurt. Say a kind word and listen with compassion to someone who is suffering.

Prayer