WEEKLY REFLECTION

On the Word of the Lord and the Message of Our Lady

A Guide on Living Our Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary 3rd Sunday of Advent (Year A) December 15, 2013 No. 003 2013 - 2014

Dear brothers and sisters, Ave Maria! We call the Third Sunday of Advent Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday. In the gospel reading from Matthew 11:2-11, Jesus tells us the reason for our rejoicing. He is the Messiah foretold by Isaiah: Here is your God . . . he comes to save you (Isaiah 35:4). Related to this, we will read Our Lady's Message No. 585: God with Us. I. GOSPEL READING (Matthew 11:2-11) When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another? Jesus said to them in reply, Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me. As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces. Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you. Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Points for Reflection 1. Are you the one who is to come? John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ. Hearing this undoubtedly from his own disciples, he sent them to Jesus with this question: Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another? It is highly unlikely that John harbored any doubts about Jesus. He was the very first one to proclaim him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). He also knew Jesus as the one who would be sacrificed, like the Passover lamb. So, what prompted this question? It is reasonable to suppose that the faith of his disciples was wavering in light of Jesus seeming inaction in Johns imprisonment by Herod. In order to clear up their doubts, John sent them to Jesus. 2. Go and tell John what you hear and see. Jesus did not answer Johns question directly. Instead, he enumerated to the disciples all his works: The blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor

have the good news proclaimed to them. John has been very clear about these works foretold by Isaiah in the First Reading (Isaiah 35:1-6,10). John wanted his disciples to hear this from Jesus himself for them to have the conviction that in Jesus, Here is your God . . . he comes to save you (Isaiah 35:4). And this is the cause of our rejoicing. As to the disciples disappointment in Jesus inaction, that was part and parcel of his being the Messiah. John knew this as well. The Messiah would be the Suffering Servant; who comes not in great power but in apparent weakness (Isaiah 53). In those days, Israels expectation of the Messiah was centered on the kings reign in power. The Jews thought that Jesus would free his people from political oppression. However, Jesus' kingship was not going to be like that. Thus, he tells them: Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me. 3. The least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. To contrast his kingship from what the Jews expected, Jesus cited John as a great prophet: the one who prepared his way. But because the Baptist lived and died within the Old Covenant, he did not see the fullness of Jesus reign. That fullness is now offered to us in the New Covenant. Even a tiny, newborn baby who is baptized into Jesus would experience it in a way John did not. What should our response be to this marvel? "Rejoice!" 4. Patience in the period of waiting Aside from rejoicing, patience is another expected response in this period of our waiting for God to keep all of his promises. St. James, in the Second Reading (James 5:7-10), gives us this helpful instruction: Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. He used the example of the farmer, who waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. This is an interesting image to ponder. A fruitful crop must get all the rain it needs before it can be harvested. Some rain will come early, but some will come late. If we think of rain as an image of Gods direct action to make human history and our own personal histories fruitful, then we must be prepared for dry spells from time to time. To drive home this point, he cites the hardship and patience of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We need patience for our faith to not fail us. The Incarnation was the first step in Gods plan that was fulfilled through the prophecy of Isaiah: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God . . . He comes to save you (Isaiah 35:4). It will take time for the unfolding of the entirety of Gods triumphant plan. But, the promise to us is certain: Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; they will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee (Isaiah 35: 10). 5. Here is your God! In the difficulties that we face in our daily lives, our hearts can quite easily become frightened and weighed down. We can lose patience in our sufferings even while we wait for the Lord's return. Jesus is present to us in the Eucharist and there, he tells us: Here is your God! to give us courage, to strengthen our feeble hands and make firm our weak knees. And now as we enter the Third Week of Advent, the period where we in the Philippines have our nine consecutive days of Masses in preparation for Christmas ("Simbang Gabi"), let us come together in church to meet our God in the Eucharist. May he cause the desert to bloom and the dry land to become springs of living water. May he open our ears to hear the words of the Scriptures and free our tongues to fill the air with songs of thanksgiving (Isaiah 30:18). Let us all gather before his altar to meet him: Here is your God!

II. OUR LADYS MESSAGE: God with Us (Message 585)

December 24, 1996 The Holy Night Dongo, Como, Italy

a. Live with me the mystery of this holy night, in silence, in prayer, and in expectation. Share in the deep joy of your heavenly Mother, who is preparing herself to give you her divine Infant. b. The Son who is born of me is also my God. Jesus is the only begotten Son of the Father; He is the Word through whom all things have been created; He is Light from Light, God from God, consubstantial with the Father. Jesus is outside of time; He is eternal. As God, He carries within Himself the synthesis of all the perfections. By means of me, this God makes Himself true man. c. In my virginal womb, there came about his human conception. In this holy night, He is born of me in a poor and unadorned cave; He is placed in a cold manger; He is adored by his Mother and by his legal father; He is surrounded by the humble presence of shepherds; He is glorified by the heavenly cohort of the angels, who sing the hymn of glory to God and of peace to the men who have been loved and saved by Him. d. Bow down with me to adore the Infant Jesus just born: He is the Emmanuel; He is God with us. e. He is God with us, because in the divine Person of Jesus are united the divine nature and the human nature. In the Incarnate Word, there is realized the substantial unity of the divinity and of the humanity. As God Jesus is above time and space; He is immutable and impassible. f. But as man, Jesus enters into time, undergoes the limitation of space, subject to all the fragility of human nature. g. He is God with us, who makes Himself man for our salvation. On this holy night, the Savior and the Redeemer is born for all. The fragility of this divine Infant becomes remedy for all human fragility: his cry is alleviation for all sorrow; his poverty is wealth for all misery; his pain is comfort for all the afflicted; his gentleness is hope for all sinners; his goodness becomes salvation for all the lost. h. He is God with us, who makes Himself redemption and refuge for all humanity. Enter with me into the bright cave of his divine love. Allow yourselves to be placed by me in the gentle and sweet cradle of his Heart, which has just begun to beat. i. Bow down with me, in an ecstasy of supernatural blessedness, to feel its first beatings. Listen to the divine harmony that rises from them with heavenly notes of love, of joy, of peace, which the world has never known. It is a song which repeats to each man the eternal and sweetest rhythm of love: I love you; I love you; I love you. Each of its beats is a new gift of love for all. Listen with me to his first sounds of crying. It is the cry of a little baby just born; it is the sorrow of a God, who carries upon Himself all the sorrow of the world. j. He is God with us, because, even in his human fragility, Jesus is truly God. Jesus Christ is God, outside of changes of time and history: He is the same yesterday today and forever. During this year, when the Church is inviting you to enter into the contemplation of the mystery of Christ, enter, each and all, into the refuge of my Immaculate Heart. As Mother, I am leading you to understand the great gift of this holy night. k. The Father has so loved the world that He has given it his only-begotten Son, for its salvation. The Holy Spirit has made my virginal womb fertile, because the Son born of me is nothing else but the precious fruit of his divine action of love. Your heavenly Mother has given her maternal assent, so that there might be fulfilled the divine prodigy of this holy night.

l. Beloved sons, bow down with me to kiss my newborn Son, and love, and adore, and give thanks because this frail Infant is God-made-man; He is the Emmanuel; He is God with us." Points for Reflection Our Ladys message (God with Us) closely parallels with the Scriptural readings we just read. In her own way, Our Lady explains the Incarnation and the union of Jesus divinity with his humanity.
1.

The Son who is born of me is also my God. (585 b) With a motherly touch and firm conviction, Our Lady recognizes Jesus, her Son, as God. She defines to us his divinity, taking the Nicene Creed as reference: Jesus is the only begotten Son of the Father, the Word through whom all things have been created; He is Light from Light, God from God, consubstantial with the Father. In his divinity, Jesus is outside of time; He is eternal . . . the synthesis of all the perfections.

2. By means of me, this God makes Himself true man. In my virginal womb, there came about his human conception. (585 b-c) Jesus divinity gives Our Lady her divine maternity. In the mystery of the Incarnation, Scriptures narrate to us that she conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God. (Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:18-25). The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this: "The One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence, the Church confesses that Mary is truly 'Mother of God' (Theotokos)" (CCC, No. 495). This makes clear Our Ladys divine maternity; the first Marian dogma, which the Church declared in the year 431 in the Council of Ephesus.
3.

He is God with us, because in the divine Person of Jesus are united the divine nature and the human nature. (585 e) Related to the dogma on divine maternity, another important issue that the Council of Ephesus defined as truth is the divine Person of Jesus. Responding to the controversy on his divine Person, the Council declared that Our Lady did not create her Sons divine Person. He has existed with the Father from all eternity. As the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, he is a divine Person with two natures - human and divine - united in a true union. St. John wrote, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, and we have seen His glory: The glory of an only Son coming from the Father filled with enduring love" (John 1:14).

4.

He is God with us, who makes Himself man for our salvation. (585 g) Man cannot save himself; only God can save him. Thus, the Savior and the Redeemer is born for all. The fragility of this divine Infant becomes remedy for all human fragility: his cry is alleviation for all sorrow; his poverty is wealth for all misery; his pain is comfort for all the afflicted; his gentleness is hope for all sinners; his goodness becomes salvation for all the lost. Beyond sharing our humanity, however, God-who-becameman died and rose again to bring us definitive salvation.

5.

He is God with us, who makes Himself redemption and refuge for all humanity. (585 h) God is love and everything that He does is an act of love. His act of redemption is His I-love-you for us. Making Himself redemption for all humanity makes it possible for us to us to live in this love. Thus, Our Lady invites us to bow down with her in an ecstasy of supernatural blessedness, and to listen to the divine harmony with heavenly notes of love, of joy, of peace, which the world has never known" for "it is a

song which repeats to each man the eternal and sweetest rhythm of love: I love you; I love you; I love you. (585 i) Every act of God in redeeming us is a new gift of love for all".
6.

He is God with us, because, even in his human fragility, he is outside of time and history. (585 j) God is eternal; he has no beginning and end. Even assuming human fragility, he is beyond time and space. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. So also is his work of redemption. His one eternal act on the Cross covers all in time and space. Let us rejoice!

God bless you all!

Yours in the Immaculate Heart, Fr. Omer Note: This reflection is shared with all cenacle and other prayer groups (priests and laity), communities and Marian organizations within and outside of the Philippines, with Our Ladys words transcribed verbatim for those who do not have copies of the blue book. This may also be shared with private individuals for their personal use. Our Lady's message is taken from the book: "To the Priests, Our Lady's Beloved Sons", a compilation of 604 messages in the form of locutions given by the Blessed Virgin Mary through Fr. Stefano Gobbi of Italy. Imprimatur: Bp Donald W. Montrose, D.D., 1998 Abp Francesco Cuccarese, 2007