The prophet Joel speaks to us about a "valley of decision". Since he calls the valley "Jehoshaphat", a name which means "The Lord judges", by "valley of decision" he means the place where God will judge all humanity. While Joel's words conjure up the traditional image of the "Last Judgement", we may reflect on the quality and importance of the many decisions we make in our life. When it is a question of major decisions, they may touch upon our faith or our moral life. Even when they are not so obviously concerned with matters of faith or morals, as Christians we must assume that, if they are major decisions, they will in some way bear upon our relationship with God.

The Gospel today reminds us of a major decision which changed the world - Mary's acceptance of the mission to be the mother of the Messiah. There is really a cluster of decisions involved here: God's decision to save the world through the incarnation, God's decision to invite Mary to be part of the work of our redemption, and Mary's decision to leave her life and vocation entirely in the hands of God, If only all our decisions were as wise and as sanctifying!