What a contrast there is between the readings from Genesis and the Gospel in to-day's Eucharist. The Genesis reading is full of fear and shame, accompanied by attempts to shift the blame for the dreadful predicament in which the man and the woman find themselves. They realize that, as a result of their actions, things have gone badly wrong and that their lives will never be the same again. The passage does, however, contain a hint of hope. All is not lost.

In the Gospel Mary a very young woman, not much more than a girl, is faced with a completely unexpected and somewhat frightening situation. She is being asked to make a decision which was full of unforeseen consequences. Yet specially graced by God, she remains calm and seeks the necessary clarification. When the unmixed goodness of the proposal is made clear to her she accepts. It is her decision.

Any wonder then that the angel addressed Mary as "full of grace" and that the Church has echoed these words after centuries of reflection?

Mary's calm, motherly care has brought grace even to us in the form of her Son, Jesus Christ, who accompanies us through the ambushes of the malevolent serpent.