Mama Mia in Luke's Gospel

4 Advent B        December 24, 2017

2 Samuel 7:4,8-16     Ps.89       

Romans 16:25-27     Luke 1:26-38  

Lectionary Link

How many of you like musicals? There is something fascinating about them.  In the middle of a story and narrative, all of sudden the characters break out in song and dance, with full orchestration.  You don't even think about how illogical it is:  Where are they hiding the band and the orchestra as they sing and dance in La La Land?  And how is it that all of the bystanders in Mama Mia can suddenly break out in song?

Are musicals foreign to the Bible?  Perhaps not.  There are songs and poetry found in the Bible and it could be that the book of Psalms is in fact the hymn book of the Hebrew Scriptures.

But one might have to call the Gospel of Luke the Musical Gospel.  Angels break out in song in heaven.  Zechariah breaks out in song.  The old man Simeon breaks out in song with prophetic prediction.  And the greatest song of all in the Gospel of Luke is from the greatest Mama Mia of the Church, the blessed Virgin Mary.

Luke inserts songs within the narrative of his Gospel and such insertions make them have something of the artistic appearance of Musical.  Song and art make us suspend our logical minds.  Art makes us suspend reason.  How is it that these folks can be so instantaneously inspired to spontaneously break out in chanting this lovely poetic songs?

And of course, it didn't happen this way, the Gospel of Luke is probably the liturgy of the early church re-presenting the life of Jesus and including in this artistic literature, Songs of those who witnessed Jesus.  These songs were being sung by members of the early church who have witnessed the birth of the Risen Christ in their lives.  And how did the birth of Christ happen in the lives of the early Christians?  They were over-shadowed by the Holy Spirit.  They were inspired.  They were made to feel favored.  They were made to confess their belief in God's justice in the middle of living under the conditions of the justice of the Roman Empire.

The Gospel of Luke with its famous songs is still the liturgy of repetition for the church today.  We repeat it because we want to reinforce the primary identity of our lives.  And what is that identity?

We are children of God, we are brothers and sisters of and in Christ.  Jesus was born of Mary.  The Risen Christ is born in us.

These are anchors of our identity as people and so we repeat the Song of Mary as a song of our identity with Jesus Christ.

Jesus was born in Mary as a gifted Son of God by the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Risen Christ is born into each of us by the power of the Holy Spirit, making us children of God.  And so like Mary we can break out in song:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed: *the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him * in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, * he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, * and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, * and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, * for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, * to Abraham and his children for ever.  Amen.

Sunday School, December 24, 2017 4 Advent B

Sunday School, December 24, 2017   4 Advent B

Theme:

Mary, the mother of Jesus

Review events in the life of Mary

The Archangel Gabriel came to Mary and told her she would have a special Son, who would be God’s child

Mary was surprised by this but she said “Let it be according to God’s word.”

Mary sang a song about God’s favor and about God’s justice winning in our world.

Mary, when see was expecting her baby, met with her cousin Elizabeth who was the mother of John the Baptist

Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem to register for paying taxes.  While in Bethlehem, Mary’s Son Jesus was born in a stable because she could not get a room at the inn.

Jesus was born to Mary.

The early Christians believed that the Risen Christ is born into the hearts of every Christian.

And this birth of Christ in us is done by the Holy Spirit.

Following the example of Mary, we say about the birth of Christ in us: “Let it be to us according to God’s word.”

In baptism, we celebrate the birth of Christ within us as our spiritual birth.

So, in important ways, our baptism is like Christmas.

Be thankful for the birth of Jesus to Mary and be thankful for the birth of Christ into our lives.

Sermon:

  What is the most popular and most often said prayer throughout the Christian church today?  It’s probably the Lord’s Prayer or what we call the “Our Father.”

  What is the second most popular prayer throughout the Church?  It is a prayer that is probably the most popular prayer in the Roman Catholic Church.  It is called the “Ave Maria or in English, the “Hail Mary.”  And many Christians use prayer beads called the Rosary to say the “Hail Mary” and to meditate on the mysteries of Jesus Christ.

  For football fans a “Hail Mary” is a last second pass thrown in an effort to score a touchdown just before the clock runs out.  But really the Hail Mary is a very popular prayer.

  And what are the words of the Hail Mary and where did they come from?  “Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed be the fruit of thy womb Jesus.  Holy Mary, mother of God.  Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of death.  Amen.

  Some of the words of this famous prayer came from the words of the cousin of Mary, Elizabeth.  Elizabeth was the wife of the priest Zechariah, and she was told that she was going to have a baby, even

though she was too old to have one.

  The angel Gabriel told Mary that she was going to have a very important son who would be the son of God.

  So, when Mary and Elizabeth met before their babies were born, the little baby who was in Elizabeth jumped in his mother’s tummy, because he was excited to meet the mother of Jesus.

  The baby of Elizabeth was John the Baptist.  And when Elizabeth saw Mary she said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?

  So, these words of Elizabeth became a part of the famous prayer: Hail Mary.

  We know that famous parents can also make their children famous too.  But also, a famous child can also make their parents famous.

  Mary became famous because she was the mother of Jesus.  She obeyed God.  And she has become the second most important person in the entire Christian history.

  Let us remember today, Mary, who was a good mother.  She obeyed God and brought into this world the most important person who ever lived.  And so today, as we get ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus, we thank God for Mary, the mother of Jesus and like Elizabeth we say,

 “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

December 24, 2017: The four Sunday of Advent

Gathering Songs: Light a Candle,  

Song: Light A Candle   (tune: Jimmy Crack Corn)

1-Light a candle for hope today, light a candle for hope today, light a candle for hope today.  Advent time is here.  

2-Light a candle for peace today…

3-Light a candle for joy today….

4-Light a candle for love today…

Liturgist:         Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People:            And Blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

Liturgist:   A reading from the letter to the Romans

Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith-- to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together The Song of Mary

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed: *

the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him *

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm, *

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things, *

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *

for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

The promise he made to our fathers, *

to Abraham and his children for ever.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Liturgist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

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, favored 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 favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Liturgist:         The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:            And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering.

Offertory: Mary and the Angel (Tune: Reuben and Rachel)

Mary, Mary, look beside you.  There’s an angel standing there! 

It is Gabriel, sent from heaven with Good News for you to hear.

Mary, Mary, don’t be frightened.  God is with you favored one.

You will have a little baby, Jesus Christ, God’s own dear Son.

“How can this be?” Mary wondered. “I’ve not married anyone.”

“God can do all things,” said Gabriel. “The baby will be God’s own Son.”

“As you say,” then Mary answered, “As God says, so let it be.”

We join Mary in her praises; Jesus came for you and me.”

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of our birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

 the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

 this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we can we love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia.  Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song: I Come With Joy   (Renew! # 195)

1.         I come with joy a child of God, forgiven, loved, and free, the life of Jesus to recall, in love laid down for me.

2.         I come with Christians, far and near to find, as all are fed, the new community of love in Christ’s communion bread.

3.         As Christ breaks bread, and bids us share, each proud division ends.  The love that made us makes us one, and strangers now are friends.

 Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song O Come, O Come Emmanuel (tune, Farmer in the Dell)

O come Emmanuel, O come Emmanuel. Come and save your people now, O come Emmanuel.

Now let us sing with joy, now let us sing with joy. Jesus came to save us all, now let us sing with joy.

O come Emmanuel, O come Emmanuel. Live within our hearts we pray, O come Emmanuel.

Dismissal   

Liturgist:    Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.

People:      Thanks be to God! 

Beyond the Childification of Christmas

4 Advent         December 21, 2014

2 Samuel 7:4,8-16     Ps.89       

Romans 16:25-27     Luke 1:26-38  

Lectionary Link

  We all love the fact that Christmas is for children and we have childified Christmas to the hilt.  We've done it in many ways.  We taken St. Nicholas of Myra and dressed him up with a fancy red duds and given him the perpetual grandfatherly role of making children happy.  We elevated the new St. Nicholas to a status which rivals the status of Jesus and we often wonder if Jesus get upstaged by Santa Claus at Christmas.  The elevation of Santa Claus allows Christmas to have relevance way beyond the church walls but Santa Claus is mainly associated with the commercial efforts to drive the giving of gifts and help boost the economy at the end of the year.  Apparently, our economy is really bad if people are not maxxing out their credit cards and completely in debt.  Go figure.
  With the extreme childification of Christian we can diminish the fact that the Gospel writers actually had specific purposes in writing what they did.  And because of fact checking and science we would like to keep the Christmas stories in being read only in the state of "primary" naivete (see Paul Ricoeur), the same kind of state which fascinated children have when they watch a Disney movie.  And that is a good state and not to be all bah hum bugged on.  But there is more to the Christmas stories and some of the more concerns what Americans are supposed to be best at, "pragmatism."  Truth has to have actual function, pragmatic function for people who use "truths."
  And what could be the pragmatic function of the story of an Angel who comes to the Virgin Mary and tells her that she is going to have baby.  And this baby is going to be a ruler of the house of Jacob, also known as Israel because he is going to be like David.  And Mary, "you will not come to have this baby by regular means, you will be over-shadowed by the Holy Spirit."  Surprise?  Well, nothing is impossible with God.  Mary's response was, "Let it be."
  Let us talk about literal prediction.  Was Jesus ever King of the house of Jacob?  Did he ever reign over Israel?  And did the Jews of his time all embrace him as a King?  In fact, he was mocked as a "false and pretending King" when over his head on the cross were written the words "This is the King of the Jews."
  What is going on in the writing of the Christmas stories?  What is their actual pragmatic function of the stories during the time of their writing and promulgation?
  Since the stories are collections and represents subsequent editing and redacting, one can assume that the stories had more than one function depending upon how they were applied and used as teachings within the various communities which read them and used them for liturgy and teaching.
  The earliest writer of the New Testament writings was St. Paul.  St. Paul did not write about Jesus of Nazareth or his early life.  We have no record of St. Paul meeting Mary or Joseph, but one assumes that  if he met James, the brother of our Lord that he would have at least asked for some historical background about Jesus.
  Paul, the earliest writer of the writing which appear in the collection of New Testament writings, wrote mainly letters giving instructions about his spiritual experience and how it changed his life and how this experience could also change the lives of others.
  This experience of spiritual change happened in this way:  A person had an encounter, an interior event which included the understanding that the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Risen Jesus was present after he had died and rose again.  The Spirit of Jesus was a higher power which could change one's life morally and socially.  The Spirit of Jesus could unite a person with like minded people to form a new community of people who could support each other as they faced the stresses of living in the cities of the Roman Empire.
  So what does one do with the theology of St. Paul's spiritual experience of the risen Christ?  What does one do as one notices how successful it has become in forming communities within the Roman Empire?  The leaders of the Christian Movement had a growing audience and they needed to have methods of inculcating and teaching this spiritual practice such as had been experienced by St. Paul, who said that Christ was born in us as the hope of glory and that this happened by the power of the Holy Spirit.
  So in the program of mystagogy or the teaching about the mystery of Christ being born within us by being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, the early Christian spiritual directors Christianized genres of stories which were present in their cultures and they presented the Virgin Mary as the example of every Christian who received the birth of Christ within them, not by the natural human means, but by presence of the Holy Spirit.  And when one knew this birth of Christ, one was initiated into the program of the Kingdom of God, the new House of Jacob and the New Israel.  It was a hidden but profound and omnipresent kingdom but it was a sure and certain kingdom because everyone in this kingdom had the uncanny experience of knowing Jesus as the kingly and transforming power of their lives.
  And so do you understand the very pragmatic function of the annunciation story in the mystagogy of the early church?  It took the didactic theology of St. Paul and put it into a story form and hid the spiritual mysticism because the Christ event was not something that happened by thinking or by external force;  it was an inward event of being over-shadowed by the Holy Spirit.
  And how did one know that it had happened?  One could know that it had happened in the event of being so persuaded that one completely acquiesced even while not understanding fully what and why it had happened.
  This acquiescence is expressed perfectly in the words of Mary to Gabriel: "Let it be to a servant of the Lord according to your word."  Let it be, let it be, let it be.  The result of persuasive faith is acquiescence when we cannot help but say, "Let it be" because we have been over-shadowed by the Holy Spirit in having Christ be born within us.
  So as we encounter all of the childification of Christmas this year, let us not forget the Christmas events of our souls when God's annunciation to us brought our acquiescence and we said to God, "Let is be."  Christmas becomes an every day event when we acquiesce to God's birthing presence and say to God, Let it be, let it be, let it be.  Amen.

  

What Does the Christmas Story Encode?

4 Advent  B       December 18, 2011

2 Samuel 7:4,8-16     Ps.89       

Romans 16:25-27     Luke 1:26-38  

Lectionary Link

   St.Paul in the Epistle lesson to the Romans, writes about the "revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed."     And the Gospel of Luke is a story of that disclosure of this wonderful mystery.    And what is the wonderful mystery that drove and motivated the people of the early church?    The mystery that they wanted to share is this:   God is not far from the world.... God is not  aloof from the lives of people.... rather, God is  intimately involved in the lives of people. In fact God is with us.... God is Emmanuel.    What is the best way for humanity to know that God is with us?  If God's life could be found to be in a person, then we would have the nature of God put in human terms so that we could understand what God is like.    And that brings us to the infancy stories of Jesus; in these stories are hidden spiritual direction for those who read them.   The story of the annunciation and the conception of our Lord Jesus Christ encodes within it the mystery that God has for every person.    Let us look at the features of the annunciation story and see if we can find in it relevant events for our own lives.   

  First, the Angel Gabriel sought out Mary to deliver a message. Do we believe that God seeks us out?  Part of the Christian attitude in life involves an esteem based upon an understanding that God cares for us enough to seek us out.   God's angels to us may not be winged figures, but God’s messages are always being issued towards us.  Are we in the practice of being able to discern the message of God to us?

    Next, God's messenger had a special greeting for Mary.  He called her a "favored one."  He said, "The Lord is with you."  You know every person needs to have this experience of being God's favored one.  Imperfect parents could not give us all of the emotional strokes that we needed.  Spouses, families, friends, and colleagues just can't give us the intensity of attention that we need to feel good about ourselves. There are people who need to be universally adored, and the people around them often are at lost to even know how to satisfy that need to be adored.  Christians need to know God's favor and when we put ourselves in the place to know God's favor; we will cease to make impossible demands for adoration on the people around us.

    A third story element is the action of the Holy Spirit upon the life of the Virgin Mary.  In this story form, the Christian has encoded the central belief of Christianity, in short, "Christ in you the only hope of God."  Mary is the paradigm for every Christian soul.  God's life is upon our life, and it is a divine life.  God's Spirit mingles with our spirit.  This is not our own doing but it is a work of God.

    A fourth element of the story is that Gabriel told Mary that her child would be the Son of God. The goal of Christianity is for you and me to realize our selves as sons and daughters of God.   Jesus did not regard "Son of God" a title that was to be kept to himself.  Adam and Eve were God's son and daughter; and like them we lose our family identity with God in estrangement.  The Gospel is a story about how that estrangement has been overcome and how we can realize our restoration into God's family.

   The last element of the Story is Mary's attitude.  "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."  Let it be. Let it be. Mary's attitude is the Christian attitude.  We will not know the esteem of God's favor, we will not regard ourselves to be sought out by God, we will not discern the life of God in us, we will not reclaim our identity as sons and daughters of God, unless we have a receptive attitude.

  The story of the annunciation to Mary, encodes for us the entire teaching of the Christian faith. God so desired to be with humanity, that the divine presence was found in Jesus of Nazareth.  But God did not regard Jesus of Nazareth to be the exclusive and exhaustive presence of God. It pleased God to let humanity know that Christ is available to be born or realized in the heart of every person.

  As we approach this Christmas, let us make the Christmas story live again in us. Let us develop an attentive, prayerful, and receptive attitude, so that we, like Mary of old, will know the life of God to be born in us.  Christ in us, the only hope of Glory.  This too, is the contemporary Christmas Story.  Amen.