Mary and Joseph were deeply prayerful people. God sent an angel in a vision to Mary while at home and to Joseph in a dream. Both recognized the voice of God in the voice of the angel. Had they not been people who prayed constantly, how could they have recognized his voice as they did?

In today's gospel the angel informs Zechariah that he is to have a son, even though he and his wife, Elizabeth, were now beyond their fertile years. Zechariah, a priest, was incapable of discerning whether the angel spoke with the voice of God. The lay people, Mary and Joseph, discerned the voice of God. Zechariah, the priest, was unable to recognize God's voice.

Let us put to rest once and for all the myth that prayerfulness, holiness, are the prerogatives of the religious. Advent is when we can deepen our prayer life, deepen our holiness, deepen our ability in what Jesus is asking of us.