Friends, On Sunday coming, December 14, we will spend a little time looking at Mary, mother of Jesus. We will hear St. Luke’s beautiful story of the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary, telling her that she would birth the Christ Child. And we will hear the song that she voiced months later, when she had come to terms with what was happening to her. In the gospel record, Mary is the first disciple or follower of the Christ. As we journey to Bethlehem, we might consider the words of Meister Eckhart from the 13th century. In his reflection: “What Good Is It To Me?” he wrote: What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly but does not take place within myself? And, what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace and if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to his Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time and my culture? This, then, is the fullness of time: when the Son of God is begotten in us. How true! Wishing you grace and peace in this sacred season. Reverend Jim Cairney