Mary in the Midst of Israel's Waiting (VI)

"I shall be a father to him and he a son to me" (2 Sam 7:14) The Blessed Virgin, just as all Israel, questioned the identity of the announced Messiah that God would send very quickly. Who actually would he be? The people waited for a new presence of God among them, a new Temple, made not by human hands, but the prophecies announced in such a mysterious manner even more. They spoke of a priest who would be called "Lord", seated at the right hand of God: "Take your seat at my right hand, till I have made your enemies your footstool. The Lord will stretch out the scepter of your power; from Zion you will rule your foes all around you. Royal dignity has been yours from the day of your birth, sacred honor from the womb, from the dawn of your youth. The Lord has sworn an oath He will never retract; you are a priest forever of the order of Melchizedek" (Ps 110:1-5). A true son of God: "I shall be a father to him and he a son to me" (2 Sam 7:14). "You are my son, today have I fathered you" (Ps 2:7). A man raised to the level of God: "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him" (Dan 7:9-14), or a very particular presence of God himself through other promises: we "shall call his name Immanuel (i.e. God with us)" (Is 7:14), and we dared to request in prayer: "Return for your servants' sake" (Is 63:17).