1) THE ANNUNCIATION

Life is filled with annunciation moments.

What have been your ten top annunciation moments?

The phone rings and a voice announces one of these messages:
“Are you sitting down? I have some great news to tell you. ‘We’re expecting a baby in December.’”
“Mom and dad, I got the job I was trying to get!”
“Patrick got a full scholarship to college for academics!”

The letter arrives. We open it and read one of these messages:
“You’re invited to the wedding of …. RSVP.”
“I love you.”
“I got the promotion.”
“The Sunday School staff met and your name came up as a possible teacher for next year. Would you be interested?”

We meet a friend in the supermarket and the conversation is filled with news:
“He asked me if I wanted to marry him.”
“My son got all A’s.”
“My daughter is doing hospice ministry.”
“Any chance you can help us with Meals-on-Wheels?”

Life has many annunciation moments.

Someone says, “Can you do me a favor?” We say, “Yes” and looking back 30 years later we say with joy, “That moment changed my life.”

Annunciation moments happen all the time. We pick up news at the coffee break, by e-mail, text messaging, by cell phone or old fashioned phones, chatting before and after church, while waiting in the parking lot, all over the place and all the time. Annunciation moments are Key News moments. Since we’re talking about the Joyful Mysteries here, these are mainly Good News moments.

Annunciation moments are often moments of invitation – calls for our time and our energies – calls for us to use skills others see in us that we might not see in us.

Annunciation moments don’t always come by phone or mail. If we just open up our eyes, we’ll see people who can use our time, our help, our love, a good word, in the everyday moments of life.

God makes announcements all the time – through all kinds of people and all kinds of situations.

Angels appear in all sizes, shapes and colors. Sometimes they can’t be seen.

We sometimes hear God speaking to us down deep in prayer.

We all can become pregnant with God.

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.”

Mary heard the word of God through an angel. She asked some key questions. She pondered.

Then she said, “Yes! Be it done to me, according to your word.”

And the rest is history. The rest is mystery.

Jesus is near.

Jesus is here.

Listen! You might be in an Annunciation moment.