First reading Genesis 3:9-15,20
The mother of all those who live
After Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’
Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,
‘Be accursed beyond all cattle,
all wild beasts.
You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust
every day of your life.
I will make you enemies of each other:
you and the woman,
your offspring and her offspring.
It will crush your head
and you will strike its heel.’
The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live.
Responsorial Psalm 97(98):1-4
Second reading Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12
Before the world was made, God chose us in Christ
Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.
Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ,
to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence,
determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ
for his own kind purposes,
to make us praise the glory of his grace,
his free gift to us in the Beloved,
And it is in him that we were claimed as God’s own,
chosen from the beginning,
under the predetermined plan of the one who guides all things
as he decides by his own will;
chosen to be,
for his greater glory,
the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.
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Mary’s “Yes”
Today, we joyfully commemorate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. In the gospel, we are presented with a pivotal moment when Mary said “Yes” to God’s plan for her to be the mother of Jesus. Despite her fear and uncertainty about what her “Yes” would bring, she trusted in God, saying, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have just said be done to me”. Her response serves as a powerful testament to her unwavering faith in God, revealing the depths of her love for Him.
Like Mary, we are also invited to become vessels of God’s love and presence in our world. Today, with trust, we offer this heartfelt prayer to God: “…let what you have said be done to me,” affirming our purpose to live wholeheartedly for God and to open ourselves to be used as instruments of His love.
Reflective question:
Where in my own life is the Lord inviting me to say “Yes” and cooperate more fully with His will?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year A” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD
