NEWS
Solemnity of the Lord’s Annunciation
Luke 1: 26-38
Today we celebrate a news. That is news indeed! For not every news is worth celebrating. Not every news is good news.
Today is the solemnity of the Best News! We are overjoyed at the news that that the Eternal Word of God became flesh, that God kept His promise, that God became human like us in all things, but sin. This news is THE Good News. It is THE Best News! We pray that all news could be as good as this one.
When we give flesh to our words – that is good news. When we keep our promises – that is good news, too. When man reflects the image of God – no doubt, that is a very good news.
Have you heard the news today? Is it good or bad? Do you have a news today? Is it good or bad?
In the midst of all the unpleasant, horrifying and bad news that we hear each day, there will always be this good news for us to hear and celebrate: Jesus became human like us in all things, but sin, because he loves us more than we know. But His Incarnation is not only an event in the past. Everyday, Jesus becomes flesh in the Eucharist; we feed on Him. Everyday, Jesus becomes human, most especially in the person of the poor; we serve Him. Jesus becomes a neighbor in our own persons; we manifest Him. Jesus becomes tangible in all of creation; we touch Him and He touches us. Everyday is a day of the Lord’s Incarnation; let us be the presence of Jesus in the world today. Everyday is the day of the Lord’s Annunciation; let us proclaim Jesus in the world today. Everyday is the day when the Word becomes flesh; let us be Jesus in the world today.
How?
Let us begin by following the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She gave her ‘yes’ to God: “Fiat mihi in secundum verbum tuum” (“Be it done to me according to your word”). Whose word? God’s word as announced by the angel Gabriel.
It is not enough to answer God’s call. We need to answer God’s call according to God’s terms, not ours. And when that happens, that indeed is good news because not all who answer God’s call answer it in God’s terms.
To answer God’s call according to His terms is very much different from simply answering God’s call. When we answer God’s call according to His terms, our resignation to His will in our lives is not only total; it is also radical. Our self-donation comes not only from our generosity to God but from our authentic, lifelong and actual experience of personal conversion to God. When we answer God’s call we do not only turn to God, we set ourselves rooted in Him so much so that we purge ourselves from everything that is contrary to God and God becomes our everything. Our love for God is then made our first priority in life, without which we have no personal life to talk about at all. Our response to His call is not simply one of the aspects of our lives, among many others. Our response to His call is in itself our life. Sounds beautiful, but it is not at all that easy when done.
Mary said ‘yes’ to God according to God’s terms. She responded to God’s call in full, personal freedom. Yet her response was truly radical so much so that she submitted to God’s will even the very freedom with which she said ‘yes’. Her fiat was a ‘yes’ that came from the very roots of her being. Thus, she proclaims, “My being magnifies the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.”
Because her response to God’s call came from the very roots of her being, everything she thought about, said and did were fruits produced by those roots. It all begins there – at the roots. It should always begin there – at the very roots. It may never begin elsewhere except there – at the roots of one’s being.
Today, as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Lord’s Annunciation, we have come together in this Eucharist to pray that our lives may always be Good News to others. Together let us help one another prolong the Incarnation of Jesus in the world today. Though our lives may be likened to crooked lines, may God write straight with them the news whose headline always reads: “Jesus: Always and Only.”
Luke 1: 26-38
Today we celebrate a news. That is news indeed! For not every news is worth celebrating. Not every news is good news.
Today is the solemnity of the Best News! We are overjoyed at the news that that the Eternal Word of God became flesh, that God kept His promise, that God became human like us in all things, but sin. This news is THE Good News. It is THE Best News! We pray that all news could be as good as this one.
When we give flesh to our words – that is good news. When we keep our promises – that is good news, too. When man reflects the image of God – no doubt, that is a very good news.
Have you heard the news today? Is it good or bad? Do you have a news today? Is it good or bad?
In the midst of all the unpleasant, horrifying and bad news that we hear each day, there will always be this good news for us to hear and celebrate: Jesus became human like us in all things, but sin, because he loves us more than we know. But His Incarnation is not only an event in the past. Everyday, Jesus becomes flesh in the Eucharist; we feed on Him. Everyday, Jesus becomes human, most especially in the person of the poor; we serve Him. Jesus becomes a neighbor in our own persons; we manifest Him. Jesus becomes tangible in all of creation; we touch Him and He touches us. Everyday is a day of the Lord’s Incarnation; let us be the presence of Jesus in the world today. Everyday is the day of the Lord’s Annunciation; let us proclaim Jesus in the world today. Everyday is the day when the Word becomes flesh; let us be Jesus in the world today.
How?
Let us begin by following the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She gave her ‘yes’ to God: “Fiat mihi in secundum verbum tuum” (“Be it done to me according to your word”). Whose word? God’s word as announced by the angel Gabriel.
It is not enough to answer God’s call. We need to answer God’s call according to God’s terms, not ours. And when that happens, that indeed is good news because not all who answer God’s call answer it in God’s terms.
To answer God’s call according to His terms is very much different from simply answering God’s call. When we answer God’s call according to His terms, our resignation to His will in our lives is not only total; it is also radical. Our self-donation comes not only from our generosity to God but from our authentic, lifelong and actual experience of personal conversion to God. When we answer God’s call we do not only turn to God, we set ourselves rooted in Him so much so that we purge ourselves from everything that is contrary to God and God becomes our everything. Our love for God is then made our first priority in life, without which we have no personal life to talk about at all. Our response to His call is not simply one of the aspects of our lives, among many others. Our response to His call is in itself our life. Sounds beautiful, but it is not at all that easy when done.
Mary said ‘yes’ to God according to God’s terms. She responded to God’s call in full, personal freedom. Yet her response was truly radical so much so that she submitted to God’s will even the very freedom with which she said ‘yes’. Her fiat was a ‘yes’ that came from the very roots of her being. Thus, she proclaims, “My being magnifies the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.”
Because her response to God’s call came from the very roots of her being, everything she thought about, said and did were fruits produced by those roots. It all begins there – at the roots. It should always begin there – at the very roots. It may never begin elsewhere except there – at the roots of one’s being.
Today, as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Lord’s Annunciation, we have come together in this Eucharist to pray that our lives may always be Good News to others. Together let us help one another prolong the Incarnation of Jesus in the world today. Though our lives may be likened to crooked lines, may God write straight with them the news whose headline always reads: “Jesus: Always and Only.”
posted by Fr. Bobby @ 4:00 PM
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