In all its holiness and glory, perhaps the Christmas story’s first morning beam was grace. Innocently, gently, humbly, the joyous light of God shone on Mary as the angel Gabriel spoke to her that she had “found favour with God” (Luke 1:30). This spiritual grace, or gift of infinite Love, enriched and defined Mary’s nature and divinely authorized her to be the mother of Jesus.
The angel, in speaking with Mary, gently assured her that the power of the Holy Ghost would envelop her. To the human sense of order, it seemed impossible that Mary could fulfill her mission. And yet nothing was impossible to God, the vital Principle and source of all being. Mary’s spiritual sense must have perceived God as the source, divine Principle, and Father of all, and she accepted her calling to bring forth Jesus as the angel foretold.
The Bible describes Jesus’ appearing this way: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Divine Love gifted the world with the revelation that there is only one kind of child—the one of God’s creating—living by the authority of divine Life. This was the grace-endowed gift of Christmas.
