Today we are celebrating the Fourth Sunday of Advent, so it is natural to ask the question, “Are you ready for Christmas?”  I am sure that we have the tree up and decorated. Hopefully all the shopping is finished, but the stores will be madhouses now.  Maybe we are still working on getting our Christmas cards out, and have a few gifts to wrap.

But are we really ready for Christmas?  Have we used this Advent season to prepare ourselves for the real reason for the season?  Our manger here in the church is stuffed with hay, representing all the good deeds, extra prayers, and sacrifices that we have made this Advent, so hopefully that means that we have prepared our hearts for Christ to be born there again.

Yet there is only so much we can do, and that is the message of Advent, especially on this last Sunday.  Deep in the human heart is the desire for infinite Truth, Beauty, Justice, and Love.  Human beings know that we cannot provide those things for ourselves because we are finite, limited.  There must be a mysterious Other who is infinite and unlimited.  This mysterious Other is God.

Since time began human beings have been trying to reach God.  Remember the temptation in the Garden; Satan told Adam and Eve that they could be like God.  After the Fall, there is the story of the Tower of Babel; another attempt of human beings striving to reach God.  The striving for God is a good thing.  It is thinking that we can reach God on our own that is wrong.

In today’s first reading, King David needed to be reminded of this.  The beginning of David’s kingship was difficult; for years he was pursued by the old King, Saul.  After Saul’s death, there was a long war between the supporters of Saul and those that followed David.  Then there was the many battles with the Philistines.  The Kingdom is finally at peace.  King David is living in the palace, and he wants to bring God to himself.  He wants to build a temple for the Lord.  It is certainly a noble sentiment to what a place to praise God, but David thinks it will be another one of HIS accomplishments.  God reminds David that it was He who took David from the pasture to become King.  David is reminded that God has been with him wherever he went.  And God has even greater plans for David -- He will establish his household forever, for it will be from David’s line that the Messiah will be born.

Today’s Gospel announces that time has come for God to fulfill His promise.  Mary has been given graces which no one else has ever had.  From her conception she has been preserved from Original Sin.  Throughout her life she has consistently chosen to follow God’s will.  She has lived a perfect life, yet despite all of this, Mary could not reach up to God.  Rather God shows His absolute love for Mary, and all of us, by coming down to us. While we cannot reach God, God comes to us.  It is through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit that Jesus will be conceived in Mary’s womb.

There are two great mysteries connected with the Annunciation.  The first is the mystery of God becoming man - the Incarnation.  God has loved us so much that He became one of us, so that He could save us from sin and the meaninglessness that sin brings, and show us the way to a meaningful life, now and forever.

The second mystery is that God didn't - and doesn't - work out that plan of salvation for us all by Himself.  Instead, he asks for our cooperation.  In today's Gospel, God invites Mary to become the mother of the Savior.  It was possible for Mary to reject this invitation.

As in the parable of the many townspeople who decline the king's invitation to attend his son's wedding feast, Mary could have said, "Thanks for the invitation, Lord, but what you're asking is actually very inconvenient for me. I really wish I could do what you want, but I'm just not there yet."

That's how Adam and Eve had responded to God's invitation to take care of the Garden of Eden.  But Mary didn't insult God with an answer like that.  She knew God, and knew that His plans are always wise and wonderful.

So she put her life at his service: "I am the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done unto me according to your word."  Mary's "yes" reversed Eve's "no", and made room for Christ's undoing of Adam's fall.

When God disrupts our plans, we should follow Mary's example, making our contribution to God's work of salvation, however small it may be.  Salvation is God's business, but it's a partnership; we have a role to play as well.

So, are we really ready for Christmas?  God is reaching down to us.  Are we ready to welcome Him?