The Annunciation

Luke 1. 26-38

The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’* The angel said to her, ‘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 holy; he will be called Son of God

One of my favorite pieces of scripture, Luke tells us here of the annunciation of Mary, the angel Gabriel's announcement to her that she would conceive and bear a son and he would be great and called the Son of the most High. And if you do the math, today it is nine months until Christmas!

My very favorite line in this passage is Mary's response, "How can this be?" and I find myself saying it often. In these times we could certainly find many places and circumstances to say the same thing.

But perhaps we can take comfort in Gabriel's response..."the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you!"

Let us pray this day for the Holy Spirit to come upon us and the power of the Most High to overshadow us, and let us go forth into the world rejoicing in the power of the unconditional love of the Creator, the redemptive love of Jesus and the sustaining love of the Holy Spirit.

Let it be. Amen.