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“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.’
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.’
‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.’
‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’” — Luke 1: 26-38
Mary is described as being chosen and favored to become the mother of the Son of God. She was confused as to how this would happen since she was a virgin, but she was grounded in her faith and knew that nothing is impossible for God. Unlike Zechariah, who doubted that his wife would become pregnant, Mary didn’t want any proof of what was to happen, she only asked how this would happen so that she could be obedient to God’s purpose for her. What an example of faith – to simply accept a message from God as truth!
About the St. Thomas Lay Leaders We’d like to thank our Lay Leaders for their dedication and care of our congregation