1Reflection for Sunday December 24, Fourth Sunday of Advent: Luke 1:26-38

Gospel: Luke 1:26-38

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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Reflection:

Among the many women during that time, why was Mary chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus? Mary was chosen because she was humble and obedient to the will of God. Mary did not say, 'I will not submit to the will of God because I have my own agenda to pursue for myself.

The Lord always chooses and uses the humble and the obedient for the realization of His plans in this world. Simply put, Mary humbly submitted her own life to God. Like Mary, do we always submit to the wisdom and intervention of God? Or do we only submit when we see that it would favor us? When it doesn’t favor us, we decline God’s wisdom and intervention.

God’s intervention in our lives is always for our own good and welfare. We may initially see it as something that is very hard to follow and understand because we would be pulled out from our comfort zones or from our sinful ways. However, in the end, we will realize that God's plan is right, for our own good and for own redemption. 

God has a beautiful plan for your life, He only ask you of one thing for that plan to become a reality. And that is to humbly submit to that plan and intervention of God.  – Marino J. Dasmarinas