KING DESIRED BY THE PEOPLES


22 DECEMBER

1 Sam 1:24-28; 1 Sam 2:1,4-6; Lk 1:46-56

Jesus, the King desired by the People

Human nature is incomplete without God, for God made us for himself, to live in communion with him. Only our communion with God will bring us to be like God. If we are created to be like God, we are therefore made to be ruled by God's word. When Adam and Eve failed to take God's word as the rule of their lives from the beginning due to the serpent's deception, God proposed another means to represent His word to us for our redemption and glory. We see through the history of salvation that God has taken pains to prepare a people to receive his word in faith and live in communion with him. In so doing, all the peoples and nations would learn to do the same, thereby entering into the planned communion of God and men. In the divinely planned communion, the Eternal Word of God will be our King, and we will be his loved and cherished subjects, worshipping God and sharing his dominion over all creatures forever. The appearance of sin in man and woman made God to replan how his divine plan and purpose would be best realised in the context of sin and evil. The Incarnation of the Eternal Word of the Father constitutes the main part of the divine plan to reclaim the allegiance of man. The whole plan would still require us to believe, trust, and obey the word of God.

Examples are given to us of women who humbly embraced God and his holy will for them. The first reading from the first book of Samuel tells us of Hannah’s humble and total submission to do the will of God in the making over of her only son, Samuel, whom she conceived in faithful obedience to the word of God. Her story teaches us how we would flourish when we submit to God’s plan and make it a priority in our lives. Hannah prayed and fasted for God’s gift of a baby for many years because she was barren. But nothing happened until she considered how to further God’s plan of salvation for his people. Paying close attention in the Temple where she visited very often with her husband, she noticed the need for a faithful servant boy for the old priest Eli, whose two sons were of no use in the Temple. She committed herself by promising God to make over any son given to her to the Temple for that purpose. God immediately answered her request, for everything that furthered God’s plan for his people is easily granted by God. She fulfilled her promise in the presence of Eli, in these words: “If you please, my lord. As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord. This is the child I prayed for, and the Lord granted me what I asked him. Now I make him over to the Lord for the whole of his life. He is made over to the Lord.” God is dedicated to whatever would bring the reign of God over men, thereby realising the plan of God for our creation.

God granted all the graces we need to realise his plan in our lives in the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the epitome of the consecration of man to God and God’s commitment to our salvation as desired from the beginning. God, seeing that the evil one explores the inherent weakness of man’s free will and his ignorance of God, gave us a mystical city in which grace is given in abundance, and we receive all we need to grow in our attachment to the Eternal Word. In this city of God, the Eternal Word took human flesh and became visible to us. Everything we need to win the battle against sin and evil is provided in this city of God and men. The Blessed Virgin Mary understood that she was the commencement of the great and mystical City of God and praised God in these words. “Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name, and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him. He has shown the power of his arm; he has routed the proud heart. He has pulled down princes form their thrones and exalted the lowly…” She testifies to the fact that all that she received is for the race of men, for all of us who come to God with good faith and humble trust. Her Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, is the King of Glory, who rules over all, in time and eternity. Let us, with her, exalt the name of the Lord, our God, for the wonderful things he has done for us.

O King whom all the peoples desire, you are the cornerstone which makes all one. O come and save man, whom you made from clay.

Let us pray:  O God, who, seeing the human race fallen into death, willed to redeem it by the coming of your Only Begotten Son, grant, we pray, that those who confess his Incarnation with humble fervour may merit his company as their Redeemer. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.          

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