The Gospel is the account of the Annunciation, when Gabriel announced to the Virgin that God had chosen her to be the mother of the Messiah. Mary's humble obedience, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word..." is the model for Christian living.

The first reading is the promise God made to David to establish his line as kings over God's people. This promise to raise up a new king of David's lineage was understood by Jews in the first century as a promise to send the Messiah.

In the second reading, Paul concludes his letter to the Church in Rome. He expresses the early Christian proclamation that in Christ the clouded meaning of the Old Testament prophecies has been revealed. In the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God's plan has been made clear and the hints of that plan in the writings of the prophets have been fulfilled.

Christians gather in the liturgy to remember our story: a story which goes back through the ages. The central actor is always God, who acts in history to lead all the creation into the kingdom. God, who acted in the lives of people in the past such as David and the blessed Virgin, continues to act today in our lives. The Eucharist is the moment of encounter with God in which, like Mary, we respond, "Yes, let it be done to me according to your word."

The Collect: Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Reflections adopted from The Rite Light: Reflections on the Sunday Readings and Seasons of the Church Year. Copyright © 2007 by Michael W. Merriman. Church Publishing Incorporated, New York.