You have found favor with God.

From today's reading: ‘What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, subjecting all things under their feet.’ Hebrews 2:6b-8a

Today we remember the annunciation - the day when the angel of the Lord came to Mary, and chose her to be the bearer of the Son of God. From the beginning, God has interacted with human beings. He walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. He spoke to Noah in the desert - establishing a covenant with the human race. He came to Abraham and established a covenant with Him and his family. It was through Abraham's lineage that Jesus was finally born many generations later.

One tradition says that every Jewish girl was asked to be the mother of the Son of God but Mary was the first to say "yes;" the first to be willing to take the risk of opening herself to God in such a way. Mary was a very special woman, strong and brave - maybe young and foolish - but willing to move ahead, to follow God - to be open and available to Him..

From the beginning, God chose humans - to interact with, to love and to care for. We are simply the extension of that interaction. We have each found favor with God. We are each crowned with glory. It is in being open as Mary was open that we begin to realize our potential as humans, as Christians, as children of God. It is in being open to God that he is able to use us and to work through us to further His Kingdom on Earth.