How
can we experience a prayerful Advent without the day’s hectic schedule
overwhelming us? We look to our spiritual mother Mary to catch a glimpse of her
life of prayerful contemplation. In Luke’s Gospel, Mary gives birth to Jesus
and upon seeing the
shepherds praising the baby Jesus, "Mary kept all these things and
pondered them in her heart” (2:19). Mary finds Jesus at the age of twelve in the temple
after being lost for three days, Luke tells us “Mary treasured all these things
in heart” (2:51). Imagine Mary’s anxiety finding herself after a
long journey to Bethlehem in labor and without lodging to give birth. Mary is interrupted
by shepherds glorifying the newborn Jesus. This doesn’t sound like a situation
that lends itself to contemplation. Yet
Mary kept these in her heart reflecting on all God was trying to reveal to
her.
Like
Mary, we need approach life as a contemplative seeking to understand all that
God reveals to us in our everyday busy and stressful lives. We
don’t need to join a monastery or a cloister to practice contemplation. A
contemplative is a person who
is attentive and watchful, an observer of details, and a good listener. A
contemplative trusts that God is present and involved in every circumstance. A
contemplative believes in all that is seen and unseen approaching life as a
mystery. Mystery is defined not as a thrilling novel with a
surprise ending; rather, mystery is about a plan that God is working through
the course of everyday human events to bring us back to union with Him. Mystery
is looking out at the world with eyes of faith discerning how God is acting in
a particular situation to bring healing and wholeness.
During
Advent, we seek to understand one of the greatest mysteries of faith – The
Incarnation. God our Father who loved us so much sent his only son to be
Emmanuel -- “God with us.” Jesus as fully God, but also as fully man walked the
roads of Palestine and could be seen, touched, and heard. After his death and
resurrection, Jesus ascended physically to heaven.
Is
the Incarnation a 33 year experiment with Jesus no longer being physically with
us? God is still here, in the flesh, in
the Body of Christ! Scripture uses the
expression to mean the “body of believers” through which God still can be
physically seen, touched, smelled, heard, and tasted explains Fr. Rolheiser. As
members of the body of believers, you and I become Christ’s presence in the
world by using our hands to bless people, our feet to do good, and our eyes to
look out with compassion prays St. Teresa of Avila.
God is
constantly touching our hearts through the people we meet and the struggles we live.
Have you ever felt lonely; then a friend drops by to lend a listening ear. Is
that God consoling you? Are you sick and praying for healing; a family member
drives you weekly to physical therapy sessions? Is that God answering your
prayer? Has God showered you with his tender loving care before you knew that
is what you needed? God blessed me in this way in August.
My
boys were headed to college. NO! I’m not ready to be an empty nester. Who am I,
if not a mom? Quietly drowning in my misery (well maybe not so quietly), I
accepted my cousin’s invitation for a girls’ beach week at Emerald Isle that fortuitously
began on the same day I dropped my sons off to college. I was hesitant about going,
because past family beach trips ended
with my needing a vacation from the vacation. One husband, two sons, and three
buddies all with their eyes fixed on me wondering where was the toilet tissue, towels,
cups, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. “Mom, there are no more snacks! Would you buy soda too?” I was the
self-appointed lifeguard with a whistle between my lips annoying the heck out of
my husband and the sunbathers nearby.
Driving
straight from the dorms to the beach, the ladies welcomed me with smiles and
hugs. The house was fully stocked, and dinner was just about ready! We gathered
around the table laughing until we cried. As I stood up to clear the dishes,
the ladies said, “Sit! Nina, sit!” I woke up early the next morning to brew a
pot of coffee only to discover to my delight that it had already been made! I
grabbed my beach chair and sat for hours by the water’s edge wondering just as
in Zac Brown’s song when the tide was
going to meet my chair. Back at the house, the ladies prepared dinner. During
my three-day stay, these amazing women ministered to my body and soul. Surprisingly
too each son phoned me (not text, mind you) to have a long conversation
about a pressing issue.
I
pondered all these things in my heart trying to understand all that God was doing
at the beach? What was God trying to tell me? It’s not a coincidence that the beach rental coincided with the date my
sons checked into the dorms. God planned this “intervention” a year in advance
knowing that if I returned from the dorms to an empty nest, I would
self-combust. God placed me under the tender loving care of the Body of Christ.
I felt God’s embrace through the loving actions of these merciful women. I also
received the answer to my question: Who am I now? Remember my sons phoned me. God
showed me that whether I live under the same roof with my sons or we are miles
apart, I am always mom.
This
Advent become a contemplative. Ponder what God is doing in the present circumstance.
Consider the words people are saying with what they might really been saying.
Think about what is happening with what might really be happening. We
experience God's loving presence by touching the Body of Christ. Our
challenge is to stay alert to God acting in our real, everyday lives. Day by
day we see God's hand in all things. Now we can shop, play Trivial Pursuit, eat
fruit cake, exchange presents, go caroling, comfort the lonely, and pray
knowing that God is Emmanuel; God is with us in the midst of life, through it
all, wherever we are.
Journaling with Jesus
What fears, worries, struggles, and doubts do I need to hand over to God who is always with me?
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