MARY SAID LET IT BE!!!

      Listen... to a story that of a young girl's faith... and ponder what our world would be like if she had said, "no."
      According to Luke (who wrote his gospel to set things straight), God sent the angel, Gabriel, to a virgin who lived in the town of Nazareth, which is in a region of Israel called Galilee. Why God chose to conduct such important  business in such an unimportant place with an unknown teenager is hard to figure. But he did, and in the 6th month of Elizabeth's pregnancy with John the Baptist, Gabriel came to Mary with a startling message. "Greetings," he said, "favored one! The Lord is with you." Greetings... favored one,,, the Lord is with you, He sounded positive and seemed excited, but Mary was confused... and pondered what sort of a greeting she had received. What was going on?What was going to happen to her? Why me, she may have thought. Looking around to see if she was alone, she may have thought, is he talking to me? I've never been "favored," never won anything , and no one outside of my neighborhood even knows my name. What's going on here?
      Don't be afraid, the angel said, you really have found favor with God... and that may well be an understatement because you will conceive and bear a son (for God)- a boy whom you will call "Yeshua," (Jesus) and he will be known forever as God's son. He will be great,and he will rule over the house of Jacob. It was a great proclamation indeed, but we can almost hear her stammering...well, uh, well... how can this be since I'm a virgin? It's not as if I'm too busy to serve on a ministry team or don't sing well enough to be in the choir, I'm a virgin and cannot bear a son." Yes," Gabriel said, "I know... but with God all things are possible, The Holy Spirit will come upon you... and the child you bear will be God's!" Mary, you have been chosen to give birth to the Son of God. What do you say?
      What do you say, Mary? Well, she might have said any number of things. Can I talk it over with my parents? Can I find out what Joseph thinks about the idea? How will I ever convince anyone- especially my husband- that this boy is God's son? I will be condemned and my son will be ridiculed throughout his life. My family will be shamed, my marriage will be called off, and Joe and I were planning to wait a year or so before we started a family. Can I think about this for a day or so? Many of us would've bargained for time, but time doesn't necessarily make it easier to take steps of faith. And the question remained: what do you say, Mary? Consider this, Mary: is anything impossible for God? If it is, faith is just another word for fantasy, but if nothing is impossible for God, then faith opens the door to miracles. What do you say, Mary? Will you trust and obey? And the unmarried teenage girl from Nazareth said, "Let it be! Let it be with me according to your word!" 
      Your will is my will. Your purpose, my purpose, I am the pottery, you are the potter. I am the hearer, you are the promise-maker; I am the servant, you are the promise-keeper! Lord, I don't know how you're going to do this. I can't explain it, and I don't really even comprehend what I just heard,,, but I believe, and believing, I say, "Let it be." Wow. What a powerful statement of faith! I'm not a Catholic and I not very knowledgeable about Marialogy. I don't think of Mary as the Mother of the Church, and I'm not an advocate of either her own virgin birth or her perpetual virginity... but I will give her this: she said "Let it be." Praise God- she said, "Let it be with me according to your word!" Amen.  Let Mary's words roll around in your mind and ponder this: what would our world be like if we all said, "Let it be?"