Advent Reflection – Day 09

An Advent Reflection by Revd Peter Aves.

Read

Luke 1: 26-30 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.”

Reflect

“The angel Gabriel from heaven came
with wings as drifted snow and eyes of flame.
‘All hail’, said he, ‘thou lowly maiden Mary,
Most highly favoured lady.’ Gloria.”
S. Baring- Gould

Christmas carols often give us a gentle, sanitised picture of the events and that is true of the annunciation to Mary. A very senior messenger from God, the Archangel Gabriel, suddenly appears in a very ordinary town in Galilee to a teenage girl.

No wonder she was shocked and disturbed by the stranger and his message and thought about it so much. Why was she so special? How was the Lord with her? His simple greeting, ‘Hello, Mary’ is often heard as ‘Hail Mary’ or ‘Ave Maria’.

Our own lives are peppered with unforeseen events and encounters but none as life-changing as this. However, we have all met ‘angels’ – people who have touched our lives with messages from God.

Pray

Lord, thank you for Mary, and for all who have brought, and bring, your ‘good news’ into our lives. Help us to be your ‘angels’ for others.

Act

Be an angel. Go and share God’s love with someone today. Recognise the ‘angels’ in your life. Thank them.

-Revd Peter Aves.

You can read all of the Advent Reflections via the following link – Advent Reflections 2019.