Isaiah 7:10-14; Psalm 24; Luke 1:26-38.
The Gospel of today is the story of the Annunciation. The dominant message is the submission of Mary to God’s will and how we need to bring our wills and plans under God’s will and plan.
This morning I want to reflect on two other messages from the Gospel.
A. The Angel told Mary that she had found favour with God. This is why we call Mary blessed. This is why we honour her. This is why she has found favour with us, because she won God’s favour. It becomes a spiritual crime that we do not honour someone that God has honoured so much. Many people are afraid that we give too much honour to Mary. We cannot honour Mary as much as God honours her and chose her to be the Mother of His Son. If God chose Mary as the Mother of His Son, why would anyone be afraid to honour her and choose her as their mother?
B. Mary asked how it could be possible for her to be a virgin and be a mother at the same time. The angel answered her that the Holy Spirit would come upon (overshadow) her.
Dear friends, like Mary, some of us are afraid of how we will be able to do what God has called us to do. The answer is “through the power of the Holy Spirit.” When the Holy Spirit comes upon a soul, we receive grace, strength, power, revelation, renewed mind and mindset. We see our lives as we never could before, and we receive the ability to break barriers and do what we never thought we could do.
Whenever we begin to think we cannot do a task or we are afraid of what we have been called to do, whenever we feel weak, powerless, insufficient, incapable or helpless, let us pray that the Holy Spirit will overshadow us because under His shadow we are never the same person as before.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on December 20, 2022.