Gospel Luke 1:26-38
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, full of grace! 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.
Reflection The mystery of the incarnation, to me, is one of the most important and significant mysteries we need to fathom and understand. How is it that God chose to come to live within us as a race, as a people? And what's interesting about it, in the ways in which it spoke of by Luke, it is a kind of overshadowing, something comes upon us.
It's a power that overcomes the weaknesses that we have. It's a beautiful image of not only who God will be when He's with us, for us, but how He was with Mary when she was asked to surrender to and believe in something that was so out of keeping with logic or anything that she could have ever possibly thought.
So we look at Mary always as the key figure in this great miracle of God dwelling within us. She was not afraid. She was open. She allowed it. It overcame all the darkness and all the doubts that she might have had. And she was given this gift of acceptance.
Closing Prayer The words of Mary. Let it be done to me. According to your word. Your word is truth. Your word is the presence of God in your life bless us to be open to this word so that we too, like Mary, can be the vehicle that we are destined to be to bring about the Kingdom of God. And we ask this in Jesus’ name Amen.

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