When the angel appeared to Mary and she responded with "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true," did she really know what she was agreeing to? When the angel said, "Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you," was the Lord really with her? In all the trouble, in the heart-break? What about our own lives? Are trials and trouble a sign that God is not with us? Au contraire! Quite the opposite! They are there to prove the genuineness of our faith if we too are favoured by God.
Tom encourages us to be a friend to someone before Christmas, like Mary was to Elizabeth when she made the journey to her house....
Mike O'Donovan
Tom Burke
