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| EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE |
"For with God
nothing will be impossible."
Luke 1:37
When the angel Gabriel reveals to the Virgin Mary that she would become the mother of the Savior of the world, she asks how can this come about. Mary, it seems, had made a vow to remain a virgin even though married to Joseph, so she could not see how God would want her to break this solemn promise. God however honors her vow of virginity and brings about Jesus’ conception not through a human agency but by the power of the Holy Spirit. What may seem impossible to us is not impossible for God, so let us not limit God to our own human perspective.
In the midst of a storm, be strong in faith for God is with you. . .
A man lost everything he had in a terrible typhoon. Distraught, he approached a monk and told him, “I lost everything!” “I’m sorry to hear you lost your faith,” the monk responded. “I did not say I lost my faith,” the man corrected. “Oh, I’m sorry then that you lost your hope,” the monk continued. “I did not lose my hope either,” the man volunteered. The monk then said, “You still have your faith. You still have your hope. Then you did not lose everything. You still have something upon which everything can be built.”
Today, we read from Luke the story of the Annunciation where the angel Gabriel announced to Mary the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy that the “the virgin shall be with child and give birth to a son, and they shall call Him ‘Emmanuel,’ a name which means ‘God is with us.’” Let us hold on to this truth. There will be times this will be challenged or will not be evident. But like Joseph and Mary, let us act on this assurance — He is Emmanuel, God with us.Fr. Joel O. Jason
