Her words are the conclusion of their meeting: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."The whole story is included in those words. First, Gabriel is saying to Mary that she has been chosen, and that God has given her all the grace and help she needs for being the mother of his Son on earth Mary's response is to accept what is asked of her. The salvation of the world turns on this conversation - on God's choosing of Mary and Mary's Yes to God's choice. In St Luke's Gospel, from which this story comes, Mary is portrayed again and again as a model of faith.

She is the one above all who hears the word of God and keeps it in her head. That is why the Church thinks of Mary as the mother of all who believe in her Son.So the story in the Gospel is not only about Mary It is also about us. God had a task for Mary, for which he prepared her and which only she could do. Similarly, he has a task in life for each of us, for which we alone are prepared and chosen, and whichwe alone can do. If we do not do it, God will find a way round, but still our particular piece of work, the piece which we and nobody else could do, will remain undone.Of course Mary was free to say Yes or No. But the kind of person she was meant that she was sure to say Yes.

That is because of the choices she had made in the past and because of the way she had responded to God's grace. She was indeed full of grace.We too are free to say Yes or No at every stage of our life, and our readiness to say Yes is also formed by the choices we have made, and by how we have responded to God's grace in the past.At every moment there is response to be made. At every moment we can think of God's angel standing beside us and addressing us in the words that were spoken to Mary: "Hail, thou that art highly favoured!"God may be hidden from our sight, but he is never absent. At every moment he presents us with something to do, and at every moment we can respond or fail to respond.Mary is always our mother and our model.