In the name of our God who shares divinity with us,
                In the name of our God who shares humanity with us,
                        In the name of our God who unsettles and inspires us,
                                    Let us give praise and thanks! Amen!

Hymn:     Yahweh (Weston Priory)

GOSPEL         Luke 1: 26 - 38   From The Message

In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin's name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:

                "Good morning!
                You're beautiful with God's beauty,
                Beautiful inside and out!
                God be with you."

She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her,

                "Mary, you have nothing to fear.

                God has a surprise for you:

                You will become pregnant and give birth to a son

                and call his name Jesus. 

                He will be great, be called "Son of the Highest.' 

               The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David; 

                He will rule Jacob's house forever-- no end, ever, to his kingdom."

Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man."  The angel answered,

                "The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
                the power of the Highest hover over you;
                Therefore, the child you bring to birth
                will be called Holy, Son of God."

                "And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth

                conceived a son, old as she is?

                Everyone called her barren,

                and here she is six months' pregnant!

                Nothing, you see, is impossible with God."

And Mary said,

                "Yes, I see it all now: I'm the Lord's maid, ready to serve.
                Let it be with me just as you say.

Then the angel left her.

REFLECTION

To think of Mary today as a model of faith in the pilgrim church is to think of her as a model for all Christians, women and men, in the journey of faith. This understanding of Mary as a model of the Christian on the path from unbelief to belief, a model of the slow and often painful growth of faith as it discerns responsible action in the tangled web of human life in time, can truly represent the pilgrim church today. A new, fully human understanding of Mary as the one who receives and communicates the grace of Christ in the Spirit corresponds with the description of the church as pilgrim and all of us persons in the community that is on the way (Anne Carr, Mary Model Faith, p. 20]


Tuning In to God's Will
Tune out loud or distracting noises. Close your eyes if it helps you. Focus on a sound from within yourself like the sound of your own breathing. Feel God's love surrounding you. Imagine you hear God saying, "I love you and have chosen you to be my faithful servant." What will you say to God? Answer in the quiet of your heart.

SHARING AND REFLECTION
A Scripture Search for Mary
We honour Mary with so many titles. Some of them are: Mother of Our Saviour, Immaculate Conception, and the Blessed Virgin. Is there a title for Mary that no one has ever used to honour her? What do the words of scripture tell me about Mary? Create your own title for Mary, and pray it as a prayer of intercession at the end of the intercessions below.


INTERCESSIONS
By her example and her prayer, Mary leads us on the way to Christ, her Son, the Word of God made flesh for salvation. In the name of all those for whom God sent his Son into the world, we pray:
        R/ Lord, hear your mother's prayer!

In the name of all mothers:
        - Holy Mother of God, pray for us. R/

In the name of all virgins and committed celibates:
        - Holy Virgin of virgins, pray for us. R/

In the name of all expectant women:
        - Mother of Christ, pray for us. R/

In the name of all unable to make or keep a commitment:
        - Virgin most faithful, pray for us. R/


CLOSING PRAYER

O God, in the incarnation of the Word, you have wrought a marvellous exchange: as he humbled himself to share in our humanity, so did he enable us to have a share in his divinity. Transform us, O God, according to your word, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Closing Hymn:     Ave Maria, Ave (Liam Lawton from the CD, In the Quiet)