Lectio Divina Reflection – Luke 1:26-38

You will conceive in your womb and bear a son. 

The words “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you” stood out to me as I prayed with this passage. What struck me most was Mary’s reaction: “She was greatly troubled and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.” Her being troubled by the greeting itself—not by the message—caught my attention.

Looking more closely at the original Greek deepened this for me. The greeting is not simply polite or affectionate. The angel does not address Mary by name, but by her state of being: “having been graced.” It is a completed action, not a promise of something yet to come. Mary is already full of grace when the angel speaks.

This helped me understand why Mary is troubled. She is not confused by flattery; she is discerning. She wonders what it means to be addressed not for who she is socially, but for what God has already done within her. The greeting reveals an identity she has not claimed for herself.

In prayer, I am invited to consider how God sees me—not as who I think I am, but as who He is already forming me to be by His grace.

Prayer: Lord, help me to receive Your grace with humility and trust, as Mary did.