As we come closer to the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, the readings tend to focus on Mary’s pregnancy
During the Third Week of Advent, we have reflected
some miraculous pregnancies, how barren women conceived children and gave
birth.
In the First Reading of December 19 (Judges 13:2-7,
24-25), though she had been barren for many years, unnamed wife of Zorah, a
Danite, bore a son, Samson, who grew to save the Israelites from the
Philistines. By preserving the security of the Israelites, Samson contributed
for Israel to receive David, God’s anointed one (1 Samuel16:13), as their king
(2 Samuel 2:4; 5:1-4). In the Gospel Reading of December 19 (Luke 1:5-25), Elizabeth,
a descendant of Aaron, the wife of a priest of the division of Abijah,
Zechariah, conceived a son, John the Baptist, after being barren for many
years. It was to send him in Elijah’s spirit and power, as a forerunning
messenger to announce the coming of Christ and to make the way of his coming (Luke
1:17; Malachi 3:23-24/4:5-6; cf. Matthew 17:12; cf. John 1:23,26-27). Then, as
the Gospel Reading of December 20 (Luke 1:26-38), describes, a virgin in
Nazareth, betrothed to Joseph, a descendant of David, conceived the Son of the
Most High, the everlasting Davidic King (Luke 1:31-33), as the fulfillment of
God’s covenant with David to establish eternal House of David (2 Samuel 7:12-13).
Today, December 22, we reflect another miracle
pregnancy, of Hanna, who was barren for many years but conceived Samuel (1
Samuel 1:1-23). But in today’s First Reading (1 Samuel 1:24-28), we see Hannah
dedicating Samuel to God (cf. Exodus 13:2,13; 22:28), as a token of her
gratitude to Him. The Gospel Reading today (Luke 1:46-56) is Mary’s joyful
canticle, known as Magnificat, in
which Mary during her visitation to Elizabeth, giving thanks to God and
speaking her deep inner thoughts of her pregnancy with Christ, the everlasting
Davidic King.
God certainly has shown His mercy on these barren
women, the wife of Zorah, the wife of Zechariah, and the wife of Elkanah, for
granting their wish to conceive. And all of these women bore sons. These sons
are, Samson, John the Baptist, and Samuel. They are all first-born sons and
born to carry respective mission for God.
Because Samson, the Israelites were not subjected to
the Philistine power. This made it possible for Hannah to pray for her child at
the house of God (pre-Temple worship place). And God heard her prayer and
granted her a son, Samuel. The, rather than keeping Samuel to her and her
husband, Elkanah, she offer him up to God and left him there.
In presenting three-year-old Samuel with a sacrificial
bull to leave him to God’s care, Hannah said to the priest, Eli:
Excuse me, my lord! As you live, my lord,
I am the woman who stood here near you, praying to the Lord. I prayed for this
child, and the Lord granted my request. Now I, in turn, give him to the Lord;
as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the Lord
(1 Samuel 1:26-28).
And Hannah prayed:
My heart exults in the Lord, my horn is
exalted by my God.
I have swallowed up my enemies; I rejoice
in your victory. There is no Holy One like the Lord; there is no Rock like our
God.
Speak boastfully no longer, Do not let
arrogance issue from your mouths. For an all-knowing God is the Lord, a God who
weighs actions. The bows of the mighty are broken, while the tottering gird on
strength.
The well-fed hire themselves out for
bread, while the hungry no longer have to toil. The barren wife bears seven
sons, while the mother of many languishes.
The Lord puts to death and gives life, casts
down to Sheol and brings up again.
The Lord makes poor and makes rich, humbles,
and also exalts.
He raises the needy from the dust; from
the ash heap lifts up the poor, to seat them with nobles and make a glorious
throne their heritage.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
and he has set the world upon them. He guards the footsteps of his faithful
ones, but the wicked shall perish in the darkness; for not by strength does one
prevail.
The Lord’s foes shall be shattered; the
Most High in heaven thunders; the Lord judges the ends of the earth.
May he give strength to his king, and
exalt the horn of his anointed! (1 Samuel 2:1-10)
Through this prayer of Hannah, in giving her son,
Samuel, back to God in the house of the Lord, she praises God and His power,
and prophesizes God’s contrasting acts on the arrogant and on the anawim
(the faithful poor and humble).
This prayer of Hannah is echoed by Mary’s canticle,
known as the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), which is addressed in the Gospel
Reading (Luke 1:46-56).
When Mary visited Elizabeth, who was into the 6th
month of her pregnancy at that time, both Elizabeth and her son in the womb,
John the Baptist, recognized the presence of the incarnated Christ in Mary’s
womb (Luke 1:41-44). And Elizabeth blessed Mary for believing in God’s
annunciation of her pregnancy with the Son of God and committing herself as His
handmaid (Luke 1:45). In response to
this, Mary said:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the
Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For He has looked upon His handmaid’s
lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One
has done great things for me, and holy is
His name. His mercy is from age to age to
those who fear Him. He has shown might with His arm, dispersed the arrogant of
mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted the
lowly. The hungry He has filled with good things; the rich He has sent away
empty.
He has helped Israel His servant,
remembering His mercy, according to His promise to our fathers, to Abraham and
to his descendants forever (Luke 1:46-55).
As Hannah’s above prayer joyfully exults God for His grace on her and His power of justice against the enemies and mercy on His anawim, Mary magnifies God with joy in her prayer canticle, addressing His care for the anawim and power against the arrogant, concluding it with her prophecy of His power through the Son in her womb, as to fulfill His covenants with her ancestors.
Hannah offered up her son, Samuel, to God. And He used
him as an instrument to make David king of Israel. Mary offered up her Son, the
incarnated Christ, Jesus, to be sacrificed for the sake of redeeming us, the
sinful (i.e. Numbers 18:15-18), not only as the ultimate Paschal Lamb (Exodus
12:5), in order to fulfill the last portion of the Servant Songs (Isaiah 52:13-53:12).
This was to establish the eternal Davidic Kingdom, promised to David (2 Samuel
7:12-13), his Church on earth (Matthew 16:18), so that he can shepherd all
those who are in it to his consummated Kingdom (Revelation 11:15-19;
21:1-22:5).
Mary foresaw God’s grand salvific and redemptive plan
through her Son in her womb, in joyfully singing her exaltation of God, as
Hannah, the mother of Samuel did in her joyful thanksgiving and exaltation
prayer.
In fact, Mary herself, was also offered up to God when
she was three, by her parents, Anna and Joachim, according to the
Protoevangelium of James:
And the child was three years old, and
Joachim said: Invite the daughters of the Hebrews that are undefiled, and let
them take each a lamp, and let them stand with the lamps burning, that the
child may not turn back, and her heart be captivated from the temple of the
Lord. And they did so until they went up into the temple of the Lord. And the
priest received her, and kissed her, and blessed her, saying: The Lord has
magnified your name in all generations. In you, on the last of the days, the
Lord will manifest His redemption to the sons of Israel. And he set her down
upon the third step of the altar, and the Lord God sent grace upon her; and she
danced with her feet, and all the house of Israel loved her. And her parents
went down marveling, and praising the Lord God, because the child had not
turned back. And Mary was in the temple of the Lord as if she were a dove that
dwelt there, and she received food from the hand of an angel (7-8).
As offered to God by his parents, Samuel served God to
make David king. Mary, who was offered to God by her parents, served God as His
handmaid. And she bore the Son, the incarnated Christ, the eternal Davidic King.
And she offered her Son, the King, for our salvation and redemption, on the
Cross. The Son served the Father faithfully for us.
Now, the arrival of this Son of Mary is imminent, as
Mary can go into labor to deliver him for us. Are we well-prepared to receive
him? Do we understand what he will bring to us and to the world? Listen to Mary
in her joyful song of prayer, the Magnificat.
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