MY daily reflection and prayer:
Friday, January 01, 2016
This First Friday
The Octave Day of Christmas
Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God
Dear my friends,
Here is the Gospel for us today according to St. Luke 2:16-21
And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
***
TODAY we enter to the New Year of 2016. So Happy New Year! Today is Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.
The Gospel today tells us that at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Mary’s newborn child is given the name Jesus on the eighth day according to the Jewish custom. Joseph and Mary gave the name Jesus because that is the name given by God’s messenger before Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:31, Matthew 1:21).
What’s the meaning and significance of a name? For every culture the giving of a name has great importance. A name represents what that person should be in the future. A person’s name expresses the reality of his or her being at its deepest level.
He was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. This name signifies Jesus’ identity and his mission. Jesus in Hebrew means the Lord saves.
Only God can forgive sins and free us from death, it is God who, in Jesus his eternal Son became a man to offer up his life as the atoning sacrifice to save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). The son that Mary bore is both God and man, the “Word who was God” (John 1:1) and who “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). That is why Mary is not only called the mother of the Jesus Christ but also the mother of the Son God. In Greek we call her “Theotokos” which literally means “God bearer.”
In the Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist, we worship Jesus Christ our Savior who would bring us grace, mercy, and freedom from the power of sin and the fear of death. In the name of Jesus Christ demons flee, cripples walk, the blind see, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised.
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, your name is at the heart of our prayer. We exalt your name above every other name, for in you we have pardon, mercy, grace and victory over sin and death. Help us to always praise your holy name and to live for your greater glory forever and ever. Amen.
Kredit foto: Ilustrasi (Ist)
