“He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.” Mary sings the Good News of the Incarnation to break into our Advent anticipation with a description of the coming Reign of God. In the angel Gabriel’s visit to lowly Mary, and then in Mary’s beautiful hymn of praise, the…

Why Mary for the mother of God? Why Mary? Mary was apparently an ordinary person. She was not rich or well-born. Wasn’t she an unlikely representative of humankind to give birth to the Savior? Mary was so simple, so plain, so ordinary, so much like the rest of us. And that’s the answer, isn’t it?…

The last candle is lit. Ready or not, Christmas is upon us. Ready or not, we will be back here Tuesday night to meet our Lord as he comes to us as a child; and to pray that we may continue to meet him, as he comes to us in so many ways, at so…

It’s a strange scene to be sure. How well thought out does this plan seem? How weird does it strike you that God’s plan of salvation should depend upon the willingness of a young woman living in an obscure village of a remote province to trust a vision that tells her God wants her to…

Mary was much perplexed by the angel’s words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. And then she said, ‘Let it be with me according to your word.’ Mary pondered. And then she consented to bear the child of God. This beautiful account of the angel’s visit to Mary has been told in…