***Wisdom to Have***

          In today's Gospel reading from Luke 1, the angel Gabriel came to the virgin Mary to announce to her that she would conceive and bear a son to be named Jesus, and he would be great and be called the Son of the Most High. Mary wondered how that could happen when she had no relations with a man. The angel told her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her to make it happen. And Mary gladly accepted the Lord's will for her. On the other hand, earlier when the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah in the sanctuary at the temple to announce to him that his wife Elizabeth would bear him a son to be named John, Zechariah asked the angel how he should know this, for he was an old man and his wife was already advanced in years. The angel said to him, "I was sent by God to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words"
          Both Mary and Zechariah responded: one tried to understand and the Lord was pleased, while the other doubted and was punished. The Lord knows every nuance of my thoughts and it's wise for us to trust in him 100% always.