Monday 20 December 2021

Today is Monday the 20 December, in the fourth week of Advent.

Salt of the Sound sings, ‘Gabriel’s Message’.

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 1:26-28
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.’

To a young woman without status, living in a small town without significance, of a nation at the edge of the Roman Empire, God sends an angel.  Can anything good come to Nazareth?  Luke’s gospel answers this question with a resounding “Yes!”  

Imagine yourself in the place of Gabriel sent to Mary . . . How do you look at her? . . . How do you speak the words: “Greetings, favoured one!  The Lord is with you.” . . .

Now imagine yourself in the place of Mary . . . what were the hopes for your life before this day? . . . then everything is changed and you are invited to walk a different path . . . what’s that like for you? . . . what do you say to this messenger of God? . . .

As you hear the reading again, what is it saying to you about how God acts in the world?

As you close this time of prayer, what greeting does God’s good angel want to give you today? Spend a moment in prayer about this…

O Wisdom
Lord and Ruler
Root of Jesse
Key of David
Rising Sun
King of the Nations
Emmanuel
Come, Lord Jesus