“How many things have
we become used to in the course of the years, of the weeks, and months so that
we stand un-shocked, unstirred and inwardly unmoved? Christmas is a time when
we ought to be shaken and brought to a realization of ourselves.” So wrote
Alfred Delp, a Jesuit priest, awaiting execution for being accused a traitor by
the Nazis in 1945. Then, the great question is whether we awake from our sleep
and complacency? Luke 2:41-52
The tragic events of the last several months make it clear
that we are unable to muddle through alone. It’s no secret that we find it
necessary to turn to one another. Isn’t this what God wants for us? In many
ways we, like the virgin, nurture our fertile soil as we absorb our pain and
suffering and that of those around us, and give birth to Christ as we share his
love with one another.
Henri Nouwen writes that Elizabeth and Mary, as models for
the Christian community, were filled with hope.
Hope is trusting that something will be fulfilled but fulfilled according to
His will and not according to our wishes.
The Christian community is the place where we keep that hope alive among us. He
tells us that we need to wait together like Elizabeth and Mary to be present to
one another; to keep each other at home spiritually so that when the Word comes
it can become flesh and have a whole
new life in us.
Perhaps the words of David Steindl-Rast make it
possible to understand how what began in Bethlehem two thousand years ago can
apply with today’s recent tragic events: “By focusing our human efforts on
cultivating tender connections and caring relationships we can give birth to a
world conceived by the Holy GhostLuke 2:41-52
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