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A reading from the book of Isaiah. The
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Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, "Ask for a
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sign from the Lord your God. Let it be
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deep as the netherworld or high as the
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sky." But Ahaz answered, "I will not
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ask. I will not tempt the Lord." Then
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Isaiah said, "Listen, O house of David.
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Is it not enough for you to weary
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people? Must you also weary my God?
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Therefore, the Lord himself will give
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you this sign. The virgin shall be with
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child and bear a son and shall name him
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Emmanuel which means God is with hers.
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The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
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A reading from the letter to the
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Hebrews. Brothers and sisters, it is
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impossible that the blood of bulls and
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goats take away sins. For this reason,
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when Christ came into the world, he
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said, "Sacrifice and offering you did
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not desire, but a body you prepared for
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me. In holocausts and sin offerings, you
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took no delight." Then I said, "As is
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written of me in the scroll, behold, I
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come to do your will, oh God." First he
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says, "Sacrifices and offerings,
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holocausts and sin offerings, you
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neither desired nor delighted in. These
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are offered according to the law." Then
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he says, "Behold, I come to do your
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will." He takes away the first to
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establish the second. By this will, we
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have been consecrated through the
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offering of the body of Jesus Christ
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once for all. The word of the Lord.
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A reading from the Holy Gospel according
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to Luke. Glory to you, O Lord. The angel
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Gabriel was sent from God to a town of
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Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin
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betrothed to a man named Joseph of the
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house of David. And the virgin's name
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was Mary. And coming to her, he said,
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"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with
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you." But she was greatly troubled at
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what was said and pondered what sort of
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greeting this might be. Then the angel
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said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary,
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for you have found favor with God.
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Behold, you will conceive in your womb
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and bear a son, and you shall name him
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Jesus. He will be great and will be
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called Son of the Most High, and the
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Lord God will give him the throne of
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David, his father, and he will rule over
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the house of Jacob forever, and of his
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kingdom there will be no end. But Mary
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said to the angel, "How can this be
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since I have no relations with a man?"
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And the angel said to her in reply, "The
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Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
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power of the Most High will overshadow
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you. Therefore, the child to be born
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will be called Holy, the Son of God. And
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behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has
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also conceived a son in her old age, and
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this is the sixth month for her, who was
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called Baron, for nothing will be
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impossible for God." Mary said, "Behold,
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I am the handmade of the Lord. May it be
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done to me according to your word. Then
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the angel departed from her. The Gospel
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of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus
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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
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there are moments in human history when
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heaven seems to touch earth. when the
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divine bursts into daily life with a
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force that forever alters the course of
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human existence. Today, the Holy
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Scriptures place us before one of these
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moments perhaps the most extraordinary
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of all, when a young girl from Nazareth
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received a visit from an angel and
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uttered a yes that would change the
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destiny of all humanity.
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But before we reach this sublime moment,
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we need to understand the broader
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context of God's redemptive plan. Our
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first reading takes us back to the
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kingdom of Judah. Centuries before the
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birth of Christ, King Aaz is facing a
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military crisis. Two powerful kingdoms
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threaten to invade Jerusalem. And the
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king's heart trembles like the trees of
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the forest tremble in the wind. It is in
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this moment of terror and uncertainty
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that God through the prophet Isaiah
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makes a surprising offer. Ask for a sign
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from the Lord your God. What generosity
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God is offering a has tangible proof of
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his presence and protection. The king
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can ask for anything, a sign from heaven
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or from the depths of the earth. But a
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has in a display of false piety that
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barely conceals his unbelief refuses, "I
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will not ask. I will not put the Lord to
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the test." What a tragedy. He is so
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trapped in his fear and distrust that he
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rejects God's own offer. How often do we
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do the same? God offers to help us to
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show us the way. But we in our
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stubbornness or false humility refuse
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his grace. Isaiah responds with a
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mixture of frustration and prophecy.
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Hear now, oh house of David, is it not
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enough for you to be a burden to men?
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Will you also be a burden to my God? It
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is as if the prophet was saying, you not
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only exhaust human patience with your
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unbelief, but also divine patience. And
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then despite Ahaz's refusal, God gives
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the sign anyway. But not just any sign.
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He gives the sign, the ultimate sign
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that would echo through the centuries.
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Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear
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a son and shall call his name Emmanuel.
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Emmanuel, God with us. What a fitting
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name for the one who would be God's
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ultimate answer to the human condition.
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This prophecy given at a time of
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political crisis completely transcends
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that immediate context. It points to
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something much greater, much deeper. It
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points to the moment when God would not
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only send a sign or a messenger but
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would come himself becoming one of us.
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Moving on to the letter to the Hebrews,
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we see the author reflecting on the
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inadequacy of the old sacrificial
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system. It is impossible for the blood
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of bulls and goats to take away sins.
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Year after year, the priests offered the
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same sacrifices, but these sacrifices
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could never truly solve the problem of
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sin. They were like a band-aid applied
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to a wound that needed surgery. Why?
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Because the human problem is far deeper
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than any external ritual could cure. Sin
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is not merely a matter of wrong actions
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that need to be compensated for. It is a
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condition of the human heart that needs
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total transformation. And this is where
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we see the beauty of God's plan. The
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author of Hebrews quotes the psalm
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putting these words in the mouth of
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Christ. sacrifice and offering you did
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not desire, but a body you prepared for
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me. Behold, I have come to do your will,
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oh God. What an extraordinary contrast.
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Instead of more external sacrifices, God
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prepares a body, a human body, so that
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his son can come and fully do the
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father's will. This is the heart of the
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mystery of the incarnation.
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God did not solve the human problem from
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afar, sending temporary solutions or
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instructions to be followed. He entered
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into the human condition, assuming our
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nature to transform us from the inside
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out. And this leads us to the
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culminating moment of our readings, the
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Luke takes us to a small village in
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Galilee, a place so insignificant that
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it isn't even mentioned in the Old
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Nazareth, a place of which it would
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later be said, "Can anything good come
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There lives a young virgin betrothed to
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a man named Joseph. Her name is Miriam,
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Mary. She is living her ordinary life,
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probably going about her daily household
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chores without the slightest idea that
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she is about to become the pivot of
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human history. Suddenly, the angel
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Gabriel appears. Hail full of grace, the
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Lord is with you. What a disconcerting
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greeting. Mary is troubled, have him,
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and who wouldn't be. But notice the
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nature of her trouble. It is not
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panicked fear, but a deep reflection on
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what this greeting might mean. Mary is
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not portrayed as someone who passively
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accepts everything she is told. She
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reflects, questions, seeks to
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understand. When Gabriel announces that
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she will conceive and give birth to a
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son, she doesn't simply say yes
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immediately. She asks a perfectly
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reasonable question. How can this be
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since I am a virgin? This is not the
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cynical question of Zechariah which
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resulted in his temporary muteness. It
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is the honest question of someone who
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wants to understand how to cooperate
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with God's plan. Mary knows the laws of
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biology. She knows that babies come from
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So, how can this happen? Gabriel's
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answer is sublime. The Holy Spirit will
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come upon you and the power of the Most
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High will overshadow you. Here we see
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the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy.
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The virgin will conceive not by human
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means but by direct divine intervention.
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The impossible is about to become
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reality. And then in this small house in
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Nazareth at this seemingly insignificant
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moment in history, a young woman utters
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the words that would change everything.
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Behold, I am the servant of the Lord.
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Let it be done to me according to your
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word. My dear brothers and sisters,
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pause for a moment and contemplate the
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magnitude of this. Yes. Mary had no
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guarantees about what her life would be
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like. She knew that being pregnant
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before marriage could result in
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rejection, shame, even stoning. She
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didn't know how Joseph would react. She
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didn't fully understand what it would
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mean to be the mother of the Messiah.
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But she trusted in the midst of
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uncertainty, in the midst of mystery,
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[music] she chose to cooperate with
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God's plan. Her yes was an act of
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profound faith, [music] extraordinary
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courage, and absolute love. And in this
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yes, we see the fulfillment of all that
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God had promised. The sign given to Ahaz
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centuries before now becomes reality.
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The body prepared for the son mentioned
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in Hebrews is being formed in Mary's
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womb. Emmanuel, God with us, is about to
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enter human history definitively.
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But what is the relevance of this for us
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today? Why does this ancient story still
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matter? Because each of us is called to
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have our own moment of enunciation. God
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continues to visit us, to call us, to
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invite us to participate in his
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redemptive plan. Perhaps not through
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visible angels, but through inner
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inspirations, through providential
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circumstances, through the gentle voice
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of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. And
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like Ahaz, we can refuse. We can hide
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behind pious excuses. We can let fear or
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unbelief paralyze us. Or like Mary, we
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can say yes even when we don't fully
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understand, even when the path ahead
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seems uncertain. Mary's yes wasn't
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uttered just once. It was a continuous
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choice renewed each day of her life. At
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the foot of the cross, watching her son
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die, she was saying yes again. In the
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upper room, waiting with the disciples
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for the Holy Spirit, she was saying yes
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once more. And us, what yes is God
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asking of us today. Perhaps it's a yes
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to forgive someone who has deeply hurt
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us. Perhaps it's a yes to letting go of
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a comfortable situation and following a
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new calling. Perhaps it's a yes to
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loving when it's difficult, to serving
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when we would prefer to be served, to
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trusting when everything seems
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uncertain. The beautiful paradox of
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Christianity is this. When we say yes to
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God, when we become his servants, that's
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when we discover our true freedom.
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Mary didn't lose her identity when she
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became the mother of Jesus. She found
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it. She wasn't diminished by her
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obedience. She was exalted. All
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generations call her blessed not despite
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her submission to God but because of it.
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The same is true for us. When we say yes
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to God's plans, when we allow him to
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work in us and through us, we discover
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who we truly are. We find our purpose,
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our joy, our peace. And here is the
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wonderful promise. Just as the Holy
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Spirit came upon Mary and the power of
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the most high overshadowed her, the same
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spirit is available to us. We are not
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left alone to fulfill God's calling in
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our own strength. He empowers us. He
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strengthens us. He works in us both the
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will and the ability to do. Brothers and
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sisters, we live in a time that often
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seems as uncertain as the days of King
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Aaz. The trees of the forest of our
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lives tremble in the wind of personal
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crises, economic uncertainties, social
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divisions, and global challenges. But
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the same God who spoke through Isaiah
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who prepared a body for his son who sent
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Gabriel to Mary is speaking to us today.
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He is offering us signs of his presence.
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He is inviting us to participate in his
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ongoing plan of redemption. He is
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calling us to say our own yes. May we
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have the courage of Mary, the faith to
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say, "Behold, I am the servant of the
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Lord. Let it be done to me according to
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May we trust that just as God was
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faithful to Mary, he will be faithful to
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us. May we open our hearts so that
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Christ may be born again within us,
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transforming us from the inside out. And
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may Emanuel, God with us, not be merely
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a doctrine we profess, but a reality we
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live each day. May we experience the
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living presence of God in our lives. And
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may others see Jesus reflected in us.
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May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
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the love of God the Father, and the
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fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with
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you all now and forever. Amen.
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St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in
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battle. Be our protection against the
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wickedness and snares of the devil. May
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God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do
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thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by
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the power of God, cast into hell Satan
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and all the evil spirits who prowl
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throughout the world seeking the ruin of
