4th Sunday in Advent
Luke 1:26-55
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee
called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of
the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and
said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was much
perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor
with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you
will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the
Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor
David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom
there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I
am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to
be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your
relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is
the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be
impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the
Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed
from her.
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the
hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted
Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her
womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a
loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your
womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes
to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my
womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be
a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."
And Mary said,
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
