December 13th

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 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 father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered 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 called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

As I have reflected on this passage, two phrases stand out to me. The first, in verse 28, is "Greetings, you who are highly favored!" This greeting is spoken to Mary by the angel who visited her. I wonder, what made Mary highly favored? She was a woman-child, possibly as young as 14 or 15. We don't know anything about her background, but I picture her as a wholesome young woman, brought up in a Jewish household, taught to worship & be obedient to God. But perfect? No. A typical teenage Jewish girl? Maybe. We don't know how or why Mary was chosen to be the mother of Jesus. But I like to think she was just an ordinary girl, and that she was highly favored because she loved and trusted God. Just as you and I are highly favored when we ask Jesus into our hearts. From that moment on, we are His children. We are ordinary people, but through His Grace and forgiveness, we are promised the gift of eternal life. Highly favored indeed!!

The second phrase that caught my attention is in verse 38. "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May your word to me be fulfilled." Can you imagine the faith and courage it took to respond in this way? Mary had to have known she would be talked about, looked down on, even shunned. She did not know how Joseph would respond to this news. It must have been frightening. And yet, she loved and trusted God enough to immediately respond "I am your servant...". Wow! What faith! Oh, to have just a tiny bit of that same faith in this life! To be able to say to our Lord: "I am your servant. May your word to me be fulfilled."

During this Advent season, no matter what fears, anxieties, and uncertainty we may be facing, I pray we can face them with the certainty and faith that we are highly favored. We might never be visited by an angel (or we might!), but we can seek the Holy Spirit, and listen to that still small voice. Ordinary, but highly favored Mary responded "May your word to me be fulfilled." May we strive to do the same.