Trusting In Angels

An angel of God visited Mary and told her, "Congratulations! You're going to have a baby, and name Him Jesus." Mary was worried and scared. How could she be the mother of God? "The Holy Spirit will be with you," the angel said. "Remember, nothing's impossible for God." Mary answered:
"I am God's servant. I'll do what you say."

Christmas is almost here! You're so excited, you can hardly stand it. But mixed with excitement is a little worry: What if you don't get any presents? What if you catch a cold and can't have fun? What if you get something awesome, but your mean cousin breaks it?

If you're worried about how Christmas will turn out, you're not alone. Even Mary was scared to death about the first Christmas - which we hear about in this week's Gospel (Luke 1:26-38).

A lot of kids worry about getting what they want for Christmas. Mary worried about wanting what she got! She was young and just engaged to be married, but an angel told her she had been chosen to become the mother of Jesus. 

That was kind of a scary present! Mary wondered how she could raise baby Jesus. She'd never been a mother before, and her first experience was going to be as the mother of God. All she could think was, "What if I make a mistake?"

The best way to calm down about Christmas worries is to think about past Christmases. Whether you had a cold or didn't get everything you wanted (and most kids don't), you're still here, so they must have turned out okay. You have to trust that things will be okay this year, too.

Mary decided to trust the angel. She had no idea how her Christmas would turn out, but she accepted what turned out to be the best Christmas present anybody ever got: Jesus, born on Christmas Day!

(12/18/08)