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(Is.7:10-14,8:10;\xa0\xa0 Ps.40:7-11;\xa0\xa0 Heb.10:4-10;\xa0\xa0 Lk.1:26-38) \xa0 \u201cBehold, I come to do your will.\u201d \xa0 Today we celebrate the fact that the Word became flesh, that God became man through Mary and dwells among us to take away our sins.\xa0 In this is fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah, \u201cThe Lord Himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name Him Emmanuel, which means \u2018God is with us!\u2019\u201d\xa0 She is the Virgin; He is the Son \u2013 we are they with whom He dwells.\xa0 Praise God for His grace! Obediently Jesus takes on the body prepared for Him by the Father for all ages; humbly He bows under the Hand of God. To come among us is His delight.\xa0 For He shall fulfill the prescriptions of the old law \u2013 as is written, so shall it come to be.\xa0 And in His blood poured out for our sakes, in the love He shares with us men, indeed shall be fulfilled the will of God.\xa0 No longer need we wait or search in vain, for all that is written is accomplished in Him. And Mary is, of course, the perfect reflection of the Lord\u2019s obedience; it is she in whom He is formed.\xa0 As He says, \u201cBehold, I come,\u201d she says, \u201cBehold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord.\u201d\xa0 As the Lord says, \u201cIn the written scroll it is prescribed for me.\xa0 To do your will, O God, is my delight,\u201d His Lady says, \u201cMay it be done to me according to your word.\u201d\xa0 And so by the obedience won from her by the angel, this Blessed Virgin \u201cwill conceive in [her] womb and bear a son, and [she] shall name Him Jesus\u201d; and \u201cthe child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.\u201d\xa0 She in her innocence and by the fullness of grace at work in her believes the reply to her question, \u201cHow can this be?\u201d\xa0 She is assured by the miracle spoken of Elizabeth \u2013 for which this holy woman must certainly have prayed \u2013 and so the words of the angel: \u201cThe Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you,\u201d are realized; and she who believes becomes the instrument of our salvation. Brothers and sisters, \u201cwe have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus once for all.\u201d\xa0 His coming among us is more than the greatest miracle; it means life for our very souls.\xa0 For by His incarnation and by the sacrifice of His flesh for our sakes is effected the cleansing of our sins and the drawing up of our lives unto heaven where He eternally dwells.\xa0 As He has dwelt with us, so may we now dwell with Him who has come for this purpose.\xa0 Let no fear grip your heart.\xa0 Consecrate yourself to Him and to His holy sacrifice.\xa0 And give yourself to His Mother, that she may form you in His image, and you may know the blessed obedience which both hold, and which is itself the means of our salvation. \xa0 Written, read & chanted by James Kurt; produced by Roger Fortney. \xa0 Music by Roger Fortney; used by permission. \xa0 ******* O LORD, make us all as your handmaid, ready to do your will.\xa0 YHWH, make us as selfless as Mary, as selfless as your Son, offering our bodies to your service, caring only for the salvation of others\u2019 souls.\xa0 Freely let us give ourselves to your will, that your Son may work through us. A Virgin conceives and bears a Son, LORD, and so your Word is fulfilled; your Word now walks among us.\xa0 This Virgin you prepared from all eternity to accomplish your will of saving souls.\xa0 Your own heart you placed within her, one of selfless sacrifice, and now as the angel comes to her, she is ready to accept your Word. Upon hearing of her cousin Elizabeth, she is convinced that the angel is from your side, LORD; hearing answer to her sincerest of prayers, she knows you are in this Word.\xa0 Did she not perhaps offer her virginity for her cousin\u2019s fertility?\xa0 Certainly her purity is blessed with the greatest fruitfulness, even as she who was thought barren prepares to give birth to a son. Make us so fruitful, dear God.\xa0 Let us too lay down our lives, as has your Son, as has His Mother, that we might be of your generation, we pray.