Presence

“Come to me all you who are burdened and I will give you rest”. (Matthew 11:28). Here I am, Lord. I come to seek Your presence. I long for Your healing power.

Freedom

Guide me always to do Your holy will
knowing that Your strength will
carry me through.

Consciousness

In the presence of my loving Creator, I look honestly at my feelings over the last day: the highs, the lows and the level ground. Can I see where the Lord has been present?

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

Nothing is impossible with God. Through the power of the Holy Spirit Mary will conceive in her womb, a child who will be the Son of God. This mystery is no less awesome than a tiny wafer, through the power of the Holy Spirit, becoming truly the sacred body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Mary was always a woman of prayer. Her whole life was to be that of the perfect servant of God, living out her ‘yes’ to God. We too, are being asked to interweave our prayer-life with how we live our Christian lives so that they become one.

Conversation

God came to bring life, both in Flesh and Word. What life-giving word have I received today? Or if nothing touched me, can I feel the life-giving presence of Jesus with me right now?

Conclusion

I thank God for His gift of love
as I go forth with joy and hope
to serve His people.

Amen