20170325 THE PERFECT SACRIFICE OF LOVE
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Isaiah
7:10-14,8:10 ©
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The Lord spoke to
Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either
from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I
will not put the Lord to the test.’
Then he
said:
Listen now, House of
David:
are you not satisfied
with trying the patience of men
without trying the
patience of my God, too?
The Lord himself,
therefore,
will give you a sign.
It is this: the
maiden is with child
and will soon give
birth to a son
whom she will call
Immanuel,
a name which means
‘God is with us.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
39(40):7-11 ©
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Here I am, Lord! I
come to do your will.
You do not ask for
sacrifice and offerings,
but an
open ear.
You do not ask for
holocaust and victim.
Instead,
here am I.
Here I am, Lord! I
come to do your will.
In the scroll of the
book it stands written
that I
should do your will.
My God, I delight in
your law
in the
depth of my heart.
Here I am, Lord! I
come to do your will.
Your justice I have
proclaimed
in the
great assembly.
My lips I have not
sealed;
you know
it, O Lord.
Here I am, Lord! I
come to do your will.
I have not hidden
your justice in my heart
but
declared your faithful help.
I have not hidden
your love and your truth
from the
great assembly.
Here I am, Lord! I
come to do your will.
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Second reading
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Hebrews 10:4-10 ©
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Bulls’ blood and
goats’ blood are useless for taking away sins, and this is what Christ said, on
coming into the world:
You who wanted no
sacrifice or oblation,
prepared a body
for me.
You took no
pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices for sin;
then I said,
just as I was
commanded in the scroll of the book,
‘God, here I am! I
am coming to obey your will.’
Notice that he says
first: You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be
offered, that is: the sacrifices, the oblations, the holocausts and the
sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them; and then he says: Here
I am! I am coming to obey your will. He is abolishing the first sort to
replace it with the second. And this will was for us to be made holy by
the offering of his body made once and for all by Jesus Christ.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn1:14
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Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
The Word became
flesh,
he lived among us,
and we saw his glory.
Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Gospel
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Luke 1:26-38 ©
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The
angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin
betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name
was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is
with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this
greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you
have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must
name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The
Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the
House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the
angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit
will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will
cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son
of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself
conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month,
for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary
‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
THE
PERFECT SACRIFICE OF LOVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [
IS 7:10-14,8-10; PS 39:7-11; HEB 10:4-10; LK 1:26-38]
The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the
Lord each year falls within the Lenten and Easter season. At first
thought, it might seem to be rather inappropriate to celebrate this solemnity
within the Lenten season. Yet this feast that we are celebrating is so intimately
linked with the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is because both the feasts of the Annunciation and that of the passion and
death of the Lord celebrate the sacrificial offering of God.
Indeed, the feast of the Annunciation celebrates
that moment when the second person of the Trinity who was eternally with the
Father before the creation of the world took human flesh in the womb of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. The moment Mary consented to God’s will, God
the Son became man in Jesus Christ. For Jesus, it was an act of
self-emptying. As the letter of St Paul to the Philippians says, Christ
Jesus, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God
a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being
born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” (Phil 2:6-8)
Indeed, Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice, for twice, He emptied
Himself; first, of His divinity, and then of His humanity on the cross by His
death. By so doing, Jesus fulfilled the will of His Father, for His “will
was for us to be made holy by the offering of his body made once and for all by
Jesus Christ.”
But not only are we celebrating the
perfect sacrifice of Christ, we are also celebrating the perfect sacrifice of
the love of the Father. For the Father to give Himself in His Son, it was
also an act of perfect self-emptying. The Father did not reserve the Son
to Himself but gave Him up for us all. St Paul wrote, “He who did not
spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all
things with him?” (Rom 8:32)
Such was the generosity of God. Again, St John wrote, “For God so loved
the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not
perish but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16) Together
with Jesus, the Father sacrificed Himself for the love of humanity. In
both instances, it was an act of self-emptying.
The scripture readings of today make it
clear that the perfect sacrifice is to offer oneself to God. The letter
of Hebrews says, “Bulls’ blood and goats’ blood are useless for taking
away sins, and that is what Christ said, on coming into the world: You wanted
no sacrifice or obligation, prepared a body for me. You took no pleasure in holocausts
or sacrifices for sin; then you said, just as I was commanded in the scroll of
the book, ‘God here I am! I am coming to obey your will.’” God does not
need all our external sacrifices. The psalmist says, “You do not ask for
sacrifice and offerings, but an open ear. You do not ask for holocaust
and victim. Instead, here am I.” All other sacrifices we offer are but an
expression of the giving of oneself, but they are just a giving of a small part
of what we have. Few of us could be like the widow who gave all she had
to the Temple treasury.
So what we are
called to imitate in today’s celebration is the total giving of God the Father
in Christ Jesus. Mary for us is that perfect exemplar of what it means to
give oneself totally to God in faith and trust. The sacrifice of God is
matched by the sacrifice of Mary. God wants to give Himself completely to
humanity by assuming our human flesh. But He needs our cooperation.
Mary was asked to cooperate with God to bring forth the savior. In spite of all
her fears, anxieties and lack of clarity on her future, she said “yes” to God
without hesitation. “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have
said be done to me.” By so doing, she was giving up her body and soul to God in
obedience to His divine will.
Doing God’s will is more than just saying
a single “yes”. This first answer required Mary to confirm to God’s will at
every moment of her life. This is true of every vocation, whether it is
marriage, priesthood or a commitment we make to someone, like assuming an
office. Saying ‘yes’ is not so difficult but living out the ‘yes’ at
every moment of the day and of the year is very daunting and challenging.
To say that we offer ourselves to our spouse or to the Church or to society is
much easier said than done. It calls for a total and daily dying to
self. Saying ‘yes’ is a lifelong commitment. Jesus reminds us, “If
any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his
life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 16:24f) And that
was what Mary did from the moment of the annunciation. She gave herself
each moment to the developments that followed, from the time of Joseph’s
discovery of her pregnancy to the birth of Jesus, in His public ministry when
He was misunderstood, till His death on the cross at Calvary. At every
moment, Mary said, “Thy will be done.”
Today, we are called to do likewise and
follow Mary in giving ourselves to the Lord by doing His holy will. The
author of Hebrews reiterates this truth. “You did not want what the Law
lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the oblations,
the holocausts and the sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them;
and then he says: Here I am! I am coming to obey your will.” This means
that we must be ready to say ‘yes’ to God in whatever we do. We must not
be like King Ahaz who insisted to do things his way in spite of the warning of
the prophet Isaiah. In his fear and anxiety that his kingdom would fall
to the combined forces of Israel and Syria, he made an alliance with
Assyria. Even though he was offered a sign to confirm that it would not
be so, he refused out of arrogance. Hence, the Lord said, “Listen now,
House of David: are you not satisfied with trying the patience with men without
trying the patience of my God, too? The Lord himself, therefore, will give you
a sign. It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son
whom she will call Immanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us’.”
Doing His will is of course impossible
without faith. We all face many challenges in life each day. I am
sure we are often at our wits end, trying to resolve our financial woes, the
incorrigible ways of our loved ones at home, the politics in the office, the
scandals that we see in our organization, etc. That is why we need faith
in order to do the will of God. Mary shows us what faith in God is all
about. It was this faith that gave her the confidence to believe in the
impossible. The angel assured her, “”The Holy Spirit will come upon you
and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child
will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman
Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people
call barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.”
Faith means to allow God’s grace to work on us in our lives.
As we celebrate the solemnity of the
Annunciation, let us contemplate on their obedience to God’s will and the
offering of themselves to the service of God and the plan of God’s salvation.
We can do this most effectively by contemplating on the lives of Mary and Jesus
as both are so intertwined. There are two well-tested devotions in the
Church that have inspired lives and moved hearts to be in union with the Lord
and with Mary. Firstly, we have the devotion to the Stations of the
Cross. This is a powerful devotion, for as we contemplate on His love for
us on the cross, our hearts will be moved to love Him and to love our
fellowmen, especially our enemies, as He did. The other devotion of
course is the Holy Rosary. St John Paul II even wrote an apostolic letter
encouraging us to contemplate on Christ and our Blessed mother by praying the
rosary. To make the contemplation of Christ’s sacrifice and that of Mary
complete, He wisely added in the Luminous Mysteries. Only by
contemplating on the face of our Lord and the life of Mary, could we find
strength also to offer ourselves completely to the Lord, doing His will at
every moment in our lives. So, together with Jesus and Mary especially
during this season of Lent, let us renew our commitment to the Heavenly Father.
“In the scroll of the book it stands written that I should do your will. My
God, I delight in your law in the depth of my heart.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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