Day: December 20, 2022

December 21, 2022 Reflection – Blessed is the fruit of your womb!

  December 21, 2022 Dear Family of Mary! Today we hear the amazing encounter between Mary and Elizabeth! The Angel Gabriel had told Mary that Elizabeth was in her 6th month of pregnancy! It was a miraculous conception in that Elizabeth and Zachariah were so old. Mary went in haste! The Holy Spirit was guiding her. There was a miraculous encounter awaiting both women and both babies!! God entered human history in an extraordinary way through Mary and Elizabeth! Nothing would ever be the same after these conceptions!! Let us meditate with awe: Luke 1:39-45 Mary set out in those days 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.” Amen, and amen!! In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan (c) Mary TV 2022    

December 20, 2022 Reflection – Hail, full of grace!

Hail, full of Grace! December 20, 2022 Dear Family of Mary! The Gospel reading today is the account of the Annunciation of the Lord, which Mary herself must have told to St. Luke. We learn so much in so few words in this account. We learn about God’s sending of Gabriel to Mary, to ask her to be the mother of His Son. Wow! We learn about Gabriel, who quickly went to Mary and entering her house, he greeted Mary as “Hail, full of grace!” We learn that Mary was a young woman, but she was in full command of her freedom and her will. She was able to ask all the right questions to come to a full and free decision about what God was asking. And we hear Mary exclaim: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” She is the model for our relationship with God! Be it done!!! This encounter changed history completely and forever!! Our Lady gave herself to be the Mother of the Savior! We can never thank her enough! Let us meditate with joy: Luke 1:26-38 In the sixth month, 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. Amen, and amen!! In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan (c) Mary TV 2022