Gospel: December 12, 2024
December 12, 2024 (Thursday)
2nd Week of Advent
Psalter: Week 2 (White)
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Responsorial Psalm: Jdt 13: 18bcde, 19
You are the highest honor of our race.
1st Reading: Zechariah 2: 14-17 (or Revelation 11: 19a; 12: 1-6a, 10ab)
Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38 (or Luke 1: 39-47)
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God, to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
The angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean.
But the angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a son; and you shall call him Jesus. He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his ancestor; he will rule over the people of Jacob forever; and his reign shall have no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 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 holy child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative, Elizabeth, is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.” Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.
Reflection:
“The Lord is with you.”
The shrine of the Our Lady of Guadalupe, located in Mexico City, is considered as the most visited Catholic shrine in the world. There many miracles have been attributed to the Our Lady of Guadalupe, of which the most commonly known is the preservation of the image of the pregnant Blessed Mother for approximately 500 years, imprinted in the tilma or cloak of Juan Diego.
The many answered prayers of the devotees, through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, can be added to the recorded miracles. Hence, millions of pilgrims and devotees venerate the Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Gospel passage for today narrates the annunciation of angel Gabriel to Mary, the young maiden from the town of Nazareth, that she would be the Mother of the Son of God through the power of the Holy Spirit.
When Mary asked angel Gabriel as to how such a thing could happen since she had had no relations with a man, but the angel Gabriel explained that with God nothing is impossible. God can do everything. God can grant us our prayers provided that it will be for the good of our whole being. We only need to humbly ask him.
