IF someone, out of the blue, suddenly asked you to do something extraordinary, how would you react? You don’t know the person, you weren’t expecting the request and it will certainly take you out of your comfort zone. Some of us might say “no” immediately; others might say “I’ll think about it”. I imagine very few of us would say “yes” immediately and without hesitation. Yet that is exactly what a young girl called Mary did.

St Luke’s Gospel contains a beautiful passage about the Angel Gabriel appearing before Mary. We know little about Mary except she is a young woman, probably in her early teens. She is at home, occupied with household duties and waiting to move to her own home with her new husband Joseph. This event is known as the Annunciation of the Lord and many Christians celebrate it on March 25; it is also known as Lady Day in reference to the Virgin Mary.

Annunciation means an announcement; in this important instance, when the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will miraculously conceive and give birth to Jesus, the Son of God. St Luke records that “Mary was greatly troubled by his words” and she asks “How can this be?”.

But the Angel Gabriel proclaims that “the Holy Spirit will come upon you... and the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God”.

Mary replies “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word”.

For Christians, this event contains a number of important themes: trust, obedience, belief in God’s plan to save the world, hope for us humans through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and anticipation of a better world.

How would you respond?

Julia Keep

St Austell Deanery