Presence

Dear Jesus, I come to You today, longing for Your presence. I desire to love You as You love me. May nothing ever separate me from You.

Freedom

Lord, I ask for the grace to know
that doing Your will is a joy
because Your will is my deepest desire
and You are always willing what is best for me.

Consciousness

We all need to take time out from our daily chores.
We know that our bodies need a rest.
When we come into Your presence, Lord,
our hearts and minds are refreshed, our spirits lifted.

The Word of God

²⁶In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”^{, 29}But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. ³²He 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. ³³He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” ³⁴Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” ³⁵The 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. ³⁶And 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. ³⁷For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸Then 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.

Inspiration

Mary did not understand all that was being asked of her, and Luke tells us she pondered over many things as they unfolded around her. Her ‘yes’ to God’s message was a blanket acceptance in faith of whatever would come in her life. Our own faith and trust in God has to be like that. We will never in this life come to understand the reason for all that happens to us. Our ‘yes’ to God is a commitment of mind and heart to God. Let us pray to renew our own commitment and to live it.

Conversation

Dear Lord, stay by my side always.
Gain for me a trusting heart.
Thank You for loving me.

Conclusion

I thank God for these few moments we have spent alone together and for any insights I may have been given concerning the text.

Amen