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This coming Sunday I\u2019m going to be speaking at Imago Dei, the church I attended when I lived in Portland.
\nThey asked me to speak on Luke 1, so this week I\u2019ve been steeping in the story of Mary, the angel who appeared to her, and Mary\u2019s response, the Magnificat.<\/p>\n
When the angel appears to Mary, he says, \u201cHail, Mary, full of grace.\u201d<\/p>\n
This morning, I woke up wondering what Gabriel would say to me if he suddenly appeared.<\/p>\n
\u201cHail, Sarah, full of\u2026..?\u201d<\/p>\n
What? \u00a0Full of doubt? \u00a0Full of fear? \u00a0Full of dreams? \u00a0Full of love?<\/p>\n
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I imagine that the angel\u2019s greeting to Mary was partly a statement of what was \u2014 that Mary was already full of grace, already favored by God. \u00a0And it was partly a prophetic declaration of what would be \u2014 that Mary would be filled with the Spirit, give birth to the Messiah, be counted blessed by generations to come.<\/p>\n
Today, the invitation in this Advent story is an invitation to see who you already are \u2014 \u00a0and who you can be. \u00a0It\u2019s an invitation to come peer into the mirror of the way God sees you now, and the vision of\u00a0who you can become.<\/p>\n
Be thankful for what God has already blessed you with. \u00a0Be humble in acknowledging the things you are \u2014 but don\u2019t want to be \u2014 full of. \u00a0And smile at the promise of everything you will become.<\/p>\n
Hail, Mary. \u00a0Hail.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This coming Sunday I\u2019m going to be speaking at Imago Dei, the church I attended when I lived in Portland. They asked me to speak on Luke 1, so this week I\u2019ve been steeping in the story of Mary, the angel who appeared to her, and Mary\u2019s response, the Magnificat. When the angel appears to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3133,"featured_media":587,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2728,2854,2974,2977,2980,2983,2986,16,2737,2740,2989,2992,2665],"class_list":["post-584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-advent","tag-angels","tag-full-of-grace","tag-gabriel","tag-greetings","tag-hail-mary","tag-immaculate-conception","tag-jesus","tag-luke-1","tag-magnificat","tag-messiah","tag-mother-of-god","tag-nativity"],"yoast_head":"\n