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 If
we think that the Biblical story is occasionally hard to believe,
imagine how Mary must have felt. Here was a young woman, probably no
more than 14 or 15, who was engaged to be married to a nobody named
Joseph who suddenly sees the angel of the Lord before her. His
message was clear, you will bear God’s son and then she was
pregnant. I am sure she must have thought it was some sort of dream
or something she had conjured in her head and yet she accepted this
new truth with faith and trust.
This is what Elizabeth must have noticed about Mary when she came to
visit her. In the passage from Luke which records their meeting,
Elizabeth is effusive in her praise of Mary and concludes her
feelings with the words above. And here she captures the great gift
that Mary will carry her entire life…belief. Mary believed what God
had said to her but also, somehow, was able to believe that
everything would turn out alright. She was able to believe that
Joseph would not abandon her, that her son would be special, that,
even as he was suffering near the end of life that he would be
alright. She was able to believe. During this Christmas season we
have the opportunity to renew our belief. None of us have received
the sensational news that Mary accepted from the Angel of the Lord,
but we have received the Word of God. We have received the Word that
we are loved, that we are cherished and that God will be with us for
all time. Blessed are all of us who have heard and believe and may
God seal that belief on our hearts.
[Jo Hilliard, LDN
Spiritual Life Editor] |
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