LUKE 1: 26-38 says: “In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
The angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you”. Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean….
On a personal note: only Mary could make known the mystery of Jesus’ conception to the primitive church. How could she express such an inner experience and how could it be reported?
Therefore, in writing, Luke had to use biblical words and forms and would allow us to understand the mysterious encounter of Mary with God.
The angel Gabriel (v. 26). For the Jews Gabriel was the name of an angel of the highest rank who appears in the book of Daniel to announce the hour of salvation (Dn. 8:16 and 9:21). So, in speaking of Gabriel, the Gospel implies that, for Mary, everything began with the assurance that this was the moment when the destiny of the world was being decided.
Rejoice. This was the joyful way in which prophets addressed the daughter of Zion, that is to say, the community of the humble, who looked forward to the coming of the Savior (Zep. 3:14; Zec. 9:9).
Full of grace (v. 28). The word used in the Gospel means specifically: beloved and favored. Other people had been loved, chosen, favored; but in this instance it becomes the very name of Mary.
She was troubled at these words. The text does not speak of fear as it did in the case of Zechariah (1:12). From the first moment that Mary’s spirit was awakened, she was aware of the presence of God inspiring her every decision, and so the divine revelation does not cause fear in her. The divine words, revealing her unique vocation, do trouble her.
You shall conceive (v. 31). Here the Gospel makes use of several biblical texts, of which foretell the future of a child, and in some others God entrusts a mission. See Genesis 16:1; Exodus 3:11; Judges 6:11. We have already mentioned Isaiah’s prophesy (7:14) announcing the one who would be Emmanuel, meaning God-with-us. Mary will name him Jesus, which means savior.
He will rule over the people of Jacob forever (i.e., the Israelites). This is a way of saying that Jesus is the Savior, the son of David announced by the prophets: Samuel 7:16; Isaiah 9:6.
He will be great (v. 32), but not in the way that John the Baptist would be great before God, for John was only a human being (1:15). Jesus was the son of the most high, and son of David: these two attributes pointed to the expected Messiah or savior.
On a political note: I am against Duterte’s war on drugs. The drug-user needs rehabilitation and the pusher can be put in jail so that he has time to regret his sins. But to kill them is un-Christian and un-human. On the rebels in the mountains, they can stop the war and come down. We now have a democracy. They can join the party-list group in congress.
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