＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Genesis 3:9-15, 20

The Lord God

Ccalled the man saying to him, "Where are you?" He said, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked,

so I hid." God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree I ordered you not to eat?" The man answered,

"The woman you put with me gave me fruit from the tree and I ate it." God said to the woman,

"What have you done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me and I ate."

 

The Lord God said to the serpent, "Since you have done that, be cursed among all the cattle and wild beasts!

You will crawl on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will make you enemies, you and the woman,

your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel."

The man called his wife by the name of Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

 

Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.

 

2nd Reading: Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12

Blessed be God, the Father of Christ Jesus our Lord, who, in Christ, has blessed us from heaven, with every spiritual blessing.

God chose us, in Christ, before the creation of the world, to be holy, and without sin in his presence.

From eternity he destined us, in love, to be his adopted sons and daughters, through Christ Jesus, thus fulfilling his free and generous will.

This goal suited him: that his loving-kindness, which he granted us in his beloved, might finally receive all glory and praise.

By a decree of him who disposes all things according to his own plan and decision,

we, the Jews, have been chosen and called, and we were awaiting the Messiah, for the praise of his glory.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊    

Luke 1:26-38

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.

 

 Gospel Reflection ：

"We freely choose to surrender ourselves to God."

"Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" Today we celebrate the wonder of God's grace, as displayed in the life of Mary,

from the very moment of her conception. God preserved her from the stain of original sin,

so that she did not carry within her the effects of Adam and Eve's disobedience. Without concupiscence,

that is, without a propensity to selfishness and sin, her natural tendency to look to the good and towards God was uninhibited.

And so, this state of grace allowed her always to want God's will, naturally and freely.

 

Mary's grace-filled state didn't take away her will or her freedom.

Rather, it liberated her will and her freedom to always choose what's best and what is of God.

This also means that our desire for holiness and the life of grace doesn't turn us into robots or automatons, without freedom.

Rather, like Mary, we freely choose to surrender ourselves to God, attuning ourselves to him, that we might receive his grace,

and in doing so, our will is freed more and more from selfishness. Therefore, our choices and actions become fairer and more loving.

Mary Immaculate, help us to follow the path of holiness.