A sermon for the season

The angel Gabriel said to Mary: “You will conceive and bear a son.” Luke 1:31a

We don’t know, when Mary first heard the announcement, whether she heard it as good news, or not. But that is what it was. It was the announcement of what was happening to her. We have come to call this good news, “the gospel”. In this case, the Gospel according to Luke, as announced by the messenger Gabriel.