Reflections of a beloved son

"Hail, full of grace!  The Lord is with you" is how the Angel Gabriel greeted Mary at the Annunciation  ( Lk. 1:26-38 ).  What a greeting, and what a woman.  Today we are reminded of God's unwavering love and boundless mercy towards us.  He loved us so much that He was willing to send His only Begotten Son into the world, being born in this blemished world of ours.  He chose to be born into poverty.  He chose to take on sin so that we would not die, but have eternal life. Take some time to read through the Annunciation account.  Try to imagine yourself as Mary, a young teenage woman who was being diligent in her chores at home and suddenly this happened.  Imagine God sending His messenger to you and asking you to take on a certain mission.  How would you feel?  How would you respond? Consider this reflective imagery: In many respects, God comes to us everyday and greets us warmly and lovingly as Gabriel did with Mother Mary....

"Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way  they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?   By no means!   But I tell you, if you do not repent,  you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed  when the tower at Siloam fell on them—  do you think they were more guilty  than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?   By no means!   But I tell you, if you do not repent,  you will all perish as they did!" Jesus tells us that just because we perceive something as a certain way, the reality may not be the case - in fact it may be drastically different.  How we perceive things is tainted by our biases and preconceived notions of things and people .  " Look at that young homeless man.  He must be addicted on drugs and now have no money and no job."  "She probably doesn't speak English well.  Look at her."  "Wow.  He was once at the top of...