The Annunciation - 25th March 2026

This reflection was shared with the community before First Vespers of the Annunciation on 24th March 2026.

Today at Vespers we start the celebration of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary that she was to become the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, the dawning of our salvation, the beginning of the journey of the incarnation of God. And tomorrow will be a big celebration for the Anglican church as Archbishop Sarah is installed in Canterbury cathedral, marking the dawning of a new era for us. A new Archbishop inevitably carries our hopes and expectations, especially at a time like this when the church feels fragile and fractured and we find ourselves living in a world that is dangerously polarised.

The message of Jesus Christ, the prince of peace, is so needed in this war-torn and divided world but are we the church, the body of Christ, strong enough to do this?

But perhaps that is the wrong question – this feast is not a celebration of strength and power but of humility and openness to the unexpected. Mary was a young woman living in a town far from the centres of religious and political power. She was devout and listened deeply to God but she had no vested interest in the religious establishment. No doubt it was that which enabled her to respond to the message of the angel with ‘let it be with me according to your word’. In her humble trust in God she was able to be open to something unprecedented and new.

I wonder what new thing God wishes to do through the church in the face of our current situation? We need to be listening deeply and letting go our fears about institutional survival. Jesus challenged the religious institutions of his day and we need to allow him, through the power of the Spirit, to do that to the church of today.

Many parishes in this country have small and elderly congregations, and most traditional religious communities are in the same situation. But maybe that is precisely the situation within which God can work, if we can find the courage to embrace our weakness and accept the dying that leads to new life. We have to let go our preconceived ideas in order for Christ to be conceived within us – within each of us personally, within our community and also within the church.

Mary had no idea where her ‘yes’ to God was going to lead and the anguish she would have to face when her son’s vocation came to fulfilment. Saying ‘yes’ to God does not lead to an easy life, and we must give thanks that Sarah Mullally has followed through her ‘yes’ to God in accepting the role of Archbishop of Canterbury. It will not be easy for her.

Tomorrow will be a big state occasion attended by many from the heart of the establishment. This sits awkwardly with the obscurity and humility that is the message of the annunciation and no doubt Archbishop Sarah will be pondering how to hold together the need to function as an establishment figure whilst also being true to the gospel of our crucified and risen Lord. There will be times when she will have to say things that are not comfortable for those with power and wealth. It will be a tough challenge and no doubt she will be criticised from within and without the church as she brings the gospel before our eyes.

Her pilgrimage to Canterbury has given a clear message that the people on the ground matter, those who are living quiet and faithful lives in the places she has visited on the way. Jesus used images of salt, yeast and seeds when talking of the kingdom – small and hidden yet permeating and changing the world around. Christians incarnating the gospel of love in their communities have through the centuries transformed the world.

As we ponder Mary’s ‘yes’ to God, let us open our hearts anew to what God is wanting to conceive in us. May each one of us become people who change the world simply by responding to God’s love for us and sharing it with others. And let us pray for Archbishop Sarah as she prepares to live out her yes’ to God in this very public role.

A prayer from the Archbishop’s website:

Heavenly Father,

we give you thanks for sending Archbishop Sarah as a shepherd to guide your people.

Gift her with wisdom and fill her with the Holy Spirit;

help her to listen well, bring people together and serve as Jesus served.

And we pray for ourselves:

strengthen us in faith, and grant us a heart like Christ’s,

gentle, humble and devoted to the truth,

so that we may share the Gospel with joy.

In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.


Mother Anne - 25th March 2025