Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 26-38) in which Mary tells the angel Gabriel, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord let what you have said be done to me’.Fr Paul thinks we need to keep in mind that Mary was a young girl preparing to be married so, no doubt, she was thinking of all the preparations; about what it was like when she was married; thinking about children; then, comes this message that she can either accept or refuse – a message on which hung the whole future of the world.  Her child would be different from all other children.  She would have a child who was both the Son of God and her own son. All of this would be the work of the Spirit.  We hear in this Gospel of the assurances of the angel – ‘do not be afraid’.  At the end of the Gospel, having had all this happen to her, what is Mary’s response?Mary’s response is unequivocally, yes – ‘let what you have said be done to me’.

In light of Mary’s yes that we hear of in the Gospel, Fr Paul says we might reflect today on ways in which I can say ‘yes’ to God in my life at this time.