This daily devotion is based on the Morning Office. It comes with selected readings from the appointed Psalm and another Scripture text, accompanied by reflections and prayers. There is an audio option. This devotion is suitable for personal and family devotions. It will be best to both read and listen. The link to the entire Morning Office today is provided at the end of each devotion. This project started on Ash Wednesday, 2025 and are offered for weekdays only.
25th March – The Annunciation of the Lord
Audio
Prepare
Today is Tuesday, 25th of March where, in our Church calendar, the Feast of the Annunciation is celebrated.
Psalm Reading
We will start with reading the appointed psalm for today, Psalm 111.
1 Praise the Lord.
I will extol the Lord with all my heart
in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
2 Great are the works of the Lord;
they are pondered by all who delight in them.
3 Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
giving them the lands of other nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
8 They are established for ever and ever,
enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He provided redemption for his people;
he ordained his covenant forever—
holy and awesome is his name.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as It was in the beginning, is
now, and shall be forever. Amen.
Prayer/Reflection
Scripture Reading
We read Romans chapter 5 verses 18 to 21:
18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer/Reflection
The incarnation – that Jesus is fully divine and fully human – is a cornerstone belief of the Church. This truth is celebrated in today’s feast. The Feast of the Annunciation commemorates the time when the angel Gabriel visited Mary to tell her that she would be the mother of the Son of God.
Why is it so important for us to believe that He was fully human? As Paul said here, it is by the obedience of the “one man” Jesus Christ that we humans can be made righteous. Jesus has come to redeem the whole of our humanity.
Being a “slave” to our body, to our body’s weaknesses and frailties is no small matter. Over and over, we have witnessed the terrible struggles that we or others have. We see these in illnesses, addictions, emotional disorders and sexual struggles. Each struggle is a wrenching attempt to hold on to life itself. Our bodies’ very limitations seem to enslave us. The sheer ubiquity of the struggle often led to desperate attempts at ridding ourselves of all our bodily attachments. Ultimately, some become suicidal.
There is hope. Jesus shared in our humanity, as mentioned in Hebrews 2:14. He was fully human and made like us in every way, as mention in Hebrews 2:17, that He may redeem us. As in “us” in our full being, which include every part of us that makes us humans. He did not come to save disembodied souls.
One of our church fathers, Gregory of Nazianzus, said “For that which He has not assumed He has not healed.”
What are you struggling with? Are you despairing over your bodily existence? Do you sense that you have potential for so much more? Yet, your body seem to hold you back.
Will you allow the redeeming grace of Christ to fill you hearts? He had to be fully human to redeem us. Will we now allow him to redeem us in our humanity? No, we do not have a heavenly body a yet. Ours is a tent of earthly dwelling. It is an imperfect tent in an imperfect world. Will you therefore allow the redeeming grace of Christ to “reign through righteousness and lead us to an eternity with Him”?
It is appropriate here to recite a part of the Nicene Creed:
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
Collect
We will end with the collect for today:
We beseech you, O Lord,
pour your grace into our hearts,
that as we have known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel,
so by his cross and passion we may be brought to the glory of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Love Incarnate by Stuart Townsend
With a prayer, you fed the hungry
With a cry, you stilled the storm
With a look, you had compassion
On the desperate and forlorn
With a touch, you healed the leper
With a shout, you raised the dead
With a word, expelled the demons
With a blessing, broke the bread
Love incarnate, love divine
Captivate this heart of mine
‘Til all I do
Speaks of you
As a sheep before the shearer
You were silent in your pain
You endured humiliation
At the hands of those you’d made
And as hell unleashed its fury
You were lifted on a tree
Crying, “Father God, forgive them
Place their punishment on me”
Love incarnate, love divine
Captivate this heart of mine
‘Til all I do
Speaks of you
I will feed the poor and hungry
I will stand up for the truth
I will take my cross and follow
To the corners of the earth
And I ask that you so fill me
With your peace, your power, your breath
That I never love my life so much
To shrink from facing death
Love incarnate, love divine
Captivate this heart of mine
‘Til all I do
Speaks of you
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