The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
[March 25.]
For Nathaniel and Friends
WE pray to you, O Lord, pour your grace into our hearts; that, as we have known by the message of an angel that you made your Son to be a man for our sake, so by his cross and passion we may be brought unto the glory of his rising from the dead; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
St. Luke i. 26 and Song of Mary
Lessons
the child you bring to birth will be called Holy, Son of God.
Luke 1:26
In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin's name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:
Good morning!
You're beautiful with God's beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.
She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.
He will be great,
be called "Son of the Highest.'
The Lord God will give him
the throne of his father David;
He will rule Jacob's house forever--
no end, ever, to his kingdom."
Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man."
The angel answered,
The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
the power of the Highest hover over you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birth
will be called Holy, Son of God.
"And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months' pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God."
And Mary said,
Yes, I see it all now:
I'm the Lord's maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me
just as you say.
Then the angel left her.
Song of Mary (Luke 1:46)
I'm bursting with God-news;
I'm dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened--
I'm the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
The God whose very name is holy, set apart from all
others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave
on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them
high.
It's exactly what he promised,
beginning with Abraham and right up to now.
Today is the 25th Day of March. It is a special day in the Church. We remember how God sent a chief angel named Gabriel to visit Mary and Joseph. God wanted to announce this good news to Mary and Joseph first. God was going to send his only Son to the World. Mary would be the God Bearer. Gabriel said, you are to name him "Jesus" meaning "God saves". That was the job Jesus came to do, to save all those who believe in him.
Now Mary was worried. Gabriel told her not to be afraid. He said that God had given her lots of Grace. She was full of his grace. Mary wondered how she could carry a baby if she wasn't even married to Joseph. Mary and Joseph were only engaged to be married.
Gabriel told Mary that God was going to be the Father, and the baby was going to be the Son of God. You see, Jesus is "God with us". That is why some call him Emmanuel. He is both man and God together, but God and Man are not mixed up.
Gabriel later visited Joseph. He told Joseph that Jesus was inside of Mary too. He told him God was doing a very special thing, and that Jesus would be great.
Are you glad the God sent Jesus to be with us?
Did you know that you can have Jesus inside of you too? You can, if you want. If you say with your voice, "JESUS IS LORD, JESUS SAVES, JESUS IS GOD's SON". And then believe in your heart that God raised up Jesus from the dead, and that he is your only savior, then you will have Jesus inside of your heart. He will help you and give you life forever and ever.
Let us say a prayer:
Dear God. Thank you for telling Mary about Jesus, and sending Jesus to be with people. Thank you for letting Jesus come into my heart to be my friend. Amen