Today is a solemnity, in which the exclusive focus is this intimate dialogue between a celestial creature, and the holiest woman ever created. Imagine the angel, see her bow in reverence, we hear her response, we image her fear, we sense concern, her slight confusion about her becoming mother, the reassuring response of the angel, his promise that ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God". That is shadow of the Holy Spirit. It was a reference to the to the shekinah. The holy of holies. (Exodus 13:21-22)

That power now we understand is by the coming of the Holy Spirit, and he notes emphatically: “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Lk 1:37 ).”

A meditation preached in Ernescliff College on March 25, 2025