Daily Readings - Tue Dec 08 2020
Genesis
9But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"10And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself."11He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"12The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate."13Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."14The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.15I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."20The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Ephesians
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love5he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,6to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.11In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,12so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
Luke
26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.28And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!"29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.30And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."34And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"35And the angel answered her, "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.36And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.37For nothing will be impossible with God."38And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.
Sermon
In today’s readings, we encounter profound moments of human encounter with the divine, each revealing the depth of God’s love and the complexity of human response. The first reading from Genesis recounts the story of Adam and Eve, the first parents, who, tempted by the serpent, choose to disobey God’s command. Their sin introduces suffering and division into the world, yet even in judgment, there is a glimmer of hope: the promise of redemption through the offspring of the woman, who will crush the serpent’s head. This passage sets the stage for understanding the human condition—our frailty, our tendency to blame, and our need for redemption.
The second reading from Ephesians shifts our gaze to the divine plan of salvation. Paul writes of the blessings God has lavished upon us in Christ, choosing us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless. This reading emphasizes God’s eternal plan to adopt us as his children through Jesus Christ, a plan rooted in love and destined to unfold according to his will. It invites us to see ourselves as part of a larger story, one of grace and redemption, where every moment of our lives is caught up in God’s purpose.
The Gospel reading from Luke presents the Annunciation, where the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will bear a son, Jesus, who will be the Son of the Most High. Mary’s response—“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word”—stands in stark contrast to the disobedience of Adam and Eve. Her “yes” undoes the “no” of Eve, opening the way for redemption. Mary’s humility and trust in God’s plan serve as a model for us all, reminding us that our lives are not our own but are part of a greater divine plan.
These readings, when taken together, invite us to reflect on our relationship with God and our place in his plan. Like Adam and Eve, we are tempted to turn away from God, but like Mary, we are called to trust in his will. The readings remind us that sin and suffering are real, but they do not have the final word. God’s love and grace are always at work, even in the midst of human failure. As we go about our daily lives, let us strive to imitate Mary’s openness to God’s plan, trusting that even in uncertainty, his will is always for our good and the good of all. May we, like Mary, say “yes” to God, allowing his grace to transform us and bring light to a world still grappling with the effects of sin.