Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Intention: That all people will embrace the story of the birth of the Christ Child as a call to increase our attention to the needs of children throughout the world.
Today’s Gospel | Luke 1:39-47
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”
Reflection for the Second Tuesday of Advent
The time of Christmas is synonymous with gifts. While humans have long had a propensity for focusing on the material notion of gift, the story of the Nativity challenges us to a higher understanding. We are asked to consider gift as the coming of grace into our worlds, a special and surprising presence that lifts us and awakens us to the real and sacred meaning of our lives. When it comes to the giving and receiving of gifts, the true gifts are the acts of giving and receiving themselves. It is when giving when we are most like God in his unconditional and joyful graciousness. It is in receiving that we are most like ourselves in our reliance on God and our interdependence with each other. And so, we are challenged to celebrate our Lord’s birth by entering into the real meaning of gift. As the letter of James admonishes, “Do not be deceived, my beloved: all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.” The time of Advent is a time to transcend the exchanging of material possessions and enter into a deeper awareness of the totality of God’s grace.
Prayer
Eternal Father, your grace is from age to age. In the birth of your Son, you blessed us with the ultimate gift of your presence. Like all gifts, it was meant not only to be held but also to be celebrated and shared. As we prepare during this Advent to remember our Savior’s coming, may we continue to hear and to proclaim his good news each day. We pray that this greatest of all gifts – your redeeming love – will find its way into all of our hearts. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.