These comments on Scripture and on events of our time flow from the prayerful reflection and rich experience of our Sisters, Associates and colleagues. We are happy to offer them to you, and pray that these words will open your heart more fully to the living Word of God.

Solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord, December 25
READINGS:
Isaiah 52:7-10   ~    Psalm 98   ~   Hebrews 1:1-6   ~   John 1:1-18

Solemnity of Mary, The Mother of God, January 1
READINGS:
Numbers 6: 22-27  ~  Psalm 67  ~  Galatians 4:4-7  ~  Luke 2:16-21

Earth…soil…dirt …loam…flesh – the stuff of which we and the creatures with whom we share this planet are made. Also the stuff in which Jesus chooses to clothe himself and the métier in which he creates the Kingdom. God works in and through the earthy, even within situations we identify as sinful, lavishes Love upon us, and in so doing wakens us to God’s eternally-giving self. Being human and needy is what enables us to receive, to stretch toward the One who bends to us. Christmas is the ultimate celebration of possibility.

Flesh
Tough yet exquisitely vulnerable.
Lowly yet having exalted dignity and potential.
Earth and heaven united
In this One
And in each one.

Earth
Messy, magnificent,
Longing, groaning, and today suffused with the Presence
Freely come, wanting to be among his own
In our weakness and need,
Offering himself in a human Child,
Emmanuel.

Glory
God revealed on earth.
Love shared.
Hearts opened.
Earth welcoming.
Healing happening.

“And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart.”

The phone rings.  “She’s in labor.”  We pray; we wait.  Another ring.  “It’s a healthy girl (or boy)!” 

Is there anything that spreads such joy and hope as a birth into a welcoming family?  Is there anything so tragic as a child born into utter poverty or to a despairing mother?  Both events are happening at this moment, probably quite close to home.

Mary pondered, we are told.  She pondered her child, his wondrous little body, the strange events of his coming, and the hopes of her nation. Could they really be embodied in this baby? Joseph too must have pondered.   

Together they faced an uncertain future.  Prophets and psalmists provided the words of their prayers for their little family.  

“May God have mercy on us and bless us; may he let his face shine upon us.” 

There was no certainty, no foreknowledge, but they could trust in the God of Abraham and Sarah to work his will through them. It was enough. It had to be. That hope lent joy to everyday moments and allowed peace in the midst of troubling events.

The year turns. With each turning we wonder about our future. We want to be hope-filled, but seldom is a new year marked by perfect tranquility or security that times will be good.  More often we experience a mix of feelings about our immediate circumstances and the situations in the wider world. Sometimes, there even seems cause to despair that the world will ever be better.  On what do we base our hope?

Just as Mary and Joseph allowed God to be God and then trustingly did what was in front of them to do, we too do what the signs of our times put in front of us. We trust that God is inviting us to see the despairing ones among us, to hear the cries of families in need, to relieve the stress on our planet’s environment, to welcome the stranger, to spend time with the lonely and to heal our relationships.  In the living of each day we work, and believe that God works through us to bring about God’s vision for each of us and all of us.  These things we ponder.

In God we do indeed trust.  Happy New Year!

Sr. Margaret O’Brien, SC
A former Council member, educator, and administrator,
Sr. Margaret also ministered in mission services
in an SC-sponsored health system.
Currently she is assistant to the Congregation’s CFO and Treasurer

Photo Credits:
Sr. Kathleen Aucoin, SC, lights the Christ-candle
at the 12/3 Congregation Day at Mount St. Vincent.
Epiphany, by Janet McKenzie, copyright Bridge Building Images .

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