Mary Embraces the Mystery of Her Faith
Seventh Day of Advent. Saturday, December 6, 2025
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. Luke 1:26-38
Dear friends,
There are four mysteries often considered central to our faith: the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Resurrection, and our Redemption/Atonement through Christ alone. Honestly, many of us who see ourselves as enlightened and educated believers may struggle with anything in our faith that remains mysterious. We prefer to quantify what we understand. We judge God by our knowledge, which is easy to grasp and acceptable to us. Anything in the Bible that doesn’t align with reason or that we cannot explain can often be viewed as primitive or childish.
Enter the announcement of Christ’s birth, and all bets are off. Mystery abounds! Imagine Mary, a well-read, Bible-believing follower of Yahweh, trying to understand how the Holy Spirit would impregnate her. Not to mention, give birth to the one and only holy child called Son of God. Try wrapping your mind around that as a young virgin girl. No books, commentaries, or popular teachers could satisfy your questions on this one. And neither should they. It is, by all accounts, a new and challenging mystery for Mary. Yet, the unknown will be revealed and become the Sacred One. Who would have imagined such a thing!
Just like with Mary, so with us. Don’t always try to fully understand what God is doing. Let it guide you. Faith is a mystery filled with awe and wonder. Don’t try to explain it. Yes, by all means, understand the promises of God that many have foretold and written down for us. They now reveal and display God's brilliance through the Son. Just remember, it calls us to trust Him like Mary, even when the messages can be confusing but are real. More so, it urges us to respond like Mary, saying, “Here I am,” and to be open, embracing a sense of holy fear and awe.
As we conclude the first week of Advent Hope, ask yourself, “Am I willing to be, like Mary, the Lord’s servant who is open to hearing God’s voice and living out His words?” Whatever lies ahead will be uncharted, a mystery. That’s the essence of hope. Amen.
This carol, “The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came,” is perhaps the most straightforward about the Annunciation, narrating the story from Gabriel’s perspective with the refrain “Most highly favored lady, Gloria!”