Scripture:

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ (Luke 1 26-28)

Reflection:

As we arrive at the 4th Sunday of Advent we are called to focus on Mary, the mother of Jesus - a young girl betrothed to a carpenter living in an insignificant backwater of the Roman Empire. There was nothing in her past that could have prepared her for what the angel Gabriel told her was to happen. She had been favoured by God and she simply had to trust that what she had been chosen for was a blessing. The experience of Mary is there to remind us that God’s blessing has no connection with human standards of acceptability, wealth or comfort - Mary had none of those. We are being encouraged to open ourselves to receive God’s blessings so that we, like Mary, can step out into the world in trust.

Lyn Hayes ALM