Breaking the Word

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. (But) these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel! "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.  (Mt 23:23-26)

Jesus sends out his owes on the scribes and Pharisees. The reason for it is that they are hypocrites. They worry about the external things and they try their level best to be very meticulous about the external things and they do not bother about the law, mercy, fidelity etc. Their primary concern should have been fulfilling the laws and then they should worry about the traditions.

The continued criticism of Jesus against the scribes and Pharisees has been that they neglected the basics and got attached to the peripheries. They were worried about the externals and were not concerned about the internals and the essentials. In life the important things were fidelity, justice and mercy. These were the things which helped them regarding their relationship with God and with the others and themselves. But these leaders were worried about the minor things

Jesus criticized the Pharisees and the scribes. He also conveyed message about the basics of life for his followers. The things that matter are the internals, the basics, the essentials, the laws and not the traditions, the externals, the peripheries..  

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" And the angel said to her in reply, "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. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God." Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.  (Lk 1:26-38)

The angel’s movement from where to where is clearly narrated in today’s passage. The angel moves from God and destination is clearly said with regard to the village, family and the person. There is no doubt about the identity of the person. This had been the case with every situation in the bible. When God chooses a person for his mission the identity of the person is clearly said.

With regard to Mary her mission also is clarified. She has to be the mother of son of God and she is also told of the name to give him when he will be born. God has been clear about every move and there is no gray element is his moves. God’s moves are definite and all the doubts are cleared and all the objections over ruled. Because nothing is impossible to God.

However God waits for the response of man/woman. Individual has to give his or her consent to initiate God’s activity in the world. This is the freedom of man. God has given freedom to man and he will not take it away from him. The freedom is so much that man can even deny God and yet God allows him to go. When Mary realizes that it is God who is working in her and it ti the plan of God then she gives her consent.