2 Kings 20:5, Isaiah 7:10-14, Romans 1:1-7, Matthew 1:18-24, Psalm 24: 1-6

Mass Reading for Today:   Isaiah 7:10-14, Romans 1:1-7, Matthew 1:18-24, Psalm 24:1-6

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 2 Kings 20:5

"I have heard your prayers and I have seen your tears."

Thank You, my Beloved, for speaking so directly to me.  I am speechless.  Thank You for Your assurance that You h ave heard the pray of this poor sinful but contrite heart.

 Isaiah 7:11, 14

11 “Ask for a sign from Yahweh your God, let it come either from the deepest depths or from the heights of heaven.”

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:

The Virgin is with child and bears a son and calls his name Immanuel.

Father God, You h ave given us  such wonderful proof of You love by giving us Jesus, Emmanuel, who is God with us - to walk with us, live in us and in Whom we  have our very being.  He provides nourishment for our soul.  Thank You, Father, for so great a Redeemer.

Romans 1:1-7

1 From Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,

an apostle called and set apart for God’s Good News,

2 the very promises he foretold through his prophets in the sacred Scriptures,

3 regarding his Son, who was born in the flesh a descendant of David,

4 and has been recognized as the Son of God endowed with Power,

upon rising from the dead through the Holy Spirit.

Through him, Jesus Christ, our Lord, 5 and for the sake of his Name,

we received grace and mission in all the nations, for them to accept the faith.

6 All of you, the elected of Christ, are part of them,

you, the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy:

7 May God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, give you grace and peace.

To be a servant of the Servant of servants is the highest calling indeed.  In a world where everyone wants to rule and dominate, the secret of true joy is to serve You Beloved in everyone we encounter.  You Yourself said in Matthew 20:28 "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."All of us who are baptized into Your Body have received this mission to go out and spread the Good News, it is a mandate that is given to us by You Yourself.  We are Your elected, we are the beloved of God, we are called to holiness.  We are invited to the highest calling possible - to be Your servants in Your vineyard. 

Grant us O Father, grace and peace, for the sake of Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

Matthew 1:18-24

•18 This is how Jesus Christ was born. Mary his mother had been given to Joseph in marriage but before they lived together, she was found to be preg­nant through the Holy Spirit.

19 Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.

20 While he was pondering over this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, 21 and now she will bear a son. You shall call him ‘Jesus’ for he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he will be called Emmanuel which means: God-with-us. 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do and he took his wife to his home.

The most beautiful story ever told and which gets more beautiful in the telling through the centuries, is the story of the nativity.  A story of how God so loved the world that He fashioned a woman free from every blemish, in order that she might, through her immaculate body, give a Human Body to His Son.  Her encounter with the angel, her beautiful responses to God's revelation of His plan, her fiat which was imperative so that God's promise could be fulfilled and become a reality.  God walks among men as a Man and pours  Himself out to the last  drop of His blood and water so that we who are beloved of God, may live in eternal union with Him.  This is our destiny.

Psalm 24:3-4
3 Who will ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who will stand in his holy place?
4 Those with clean hands and pure heart,
who desire not what is vain,
and never swear to a lie.

MAMA MARY - THE CHOSEN ONE.