aadbdstarter

Scripture:

Isaiah 58:1-9a
Matthew 9:14-15

Reflection:

In the Spirit of today’s Gospel reflection with regards to Jesus’ explanation as to why his disciples do not fast, it struck me that we are in the age when the “bridegroom is not with us,” so to speak. I truly have to prioritize my attention on His presence in the body of people who cross my path on a daily basis. So my fasting this Lent is to be a discipline of re-calling, re-covering, re-collecting, re-storing and reconciling with those whom, otherwise, I would  have no quality time. A Lenten resolution for me ( and this sounds very mundane, but it does address a real issue ), is to make an all-out effort to deliberately pay attention to the person or natural setting with which I am in immediate contact. Rather than rushing around here and there, I would be conscious of the person, or natural setting in closest proximity to me. How Jesus wants to use the personal, intimate presence of the bridegroom during these 40 days is entirely up to him.

I want to “surrender my priorities as best I can so as to be “present’ to the other.

The Pope’s observation about St. Francis in paragraph #10 of Laudato Si takes up in a fairly comprehensively manner what we are to be about during Lent. (St. Francis) was particularly concerned for God’s creation and of the poor and the outcasts. “He loved, and was deeply loved for his joy, his generous self-giving, his openheartedness. He was mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself.” In this way, Pope Francis points out (#10) just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace.  I want to establish a simple discipline that I can follow in order to alleviate the so-called overconsumption which becomes a distraction in so many ways to building an intimate relationship with Christ.

Fr. Alex Steinmiller, C.P., is the administrator at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

Scripture:

Song of Songs 2:8-14
Luke 1:39-45

Reflection:

Today as we close in on our celebration of the Birth of the Messiah, we surely note what is likely unique in the church’s arrangement of the biblical readings she suggests, not only for this particular time on the schedule of her choices for our reflection, but for any of her choices of such readings throughout the liturgical year.  The readings suggested by her today are totally and exclusively assigned to women.

Of course, this should not be surprising, since we are preparing to celebrate a birth event, and even though men have a significant part to play in an occasion like this, it does not quite compare to the woman’s role in it.  And, of course, with all due deference to Joseph, that wonderful companion of his virgin wife, his role was even more marginal to the birth of this remarkable infant than that of most fathers.  And so, when all is said and done, recognition must be given to adoptive parents, those generous men and women anxious to experience their version both of motherhood and fatherhood by way of adopting a child in need of a loving father and mother.

But the church’s choice today, so close to the feast of the Nativity of Jesus, of an explicitly woman’s experience as worthy of our reflection, deserves our attention.  And so we listen, with interest, to the comments of the book called the Song of Songs.  It is the voice of a woman waiting for the love of her life as he approaches her.  She knows he is close by, and calls upon nature, in the spring of its development, as it is about to bloom and blossom forth with the flower that has been moving toward full blooming and development.  And she is excited with expectation.  This undoubtedly corresponds to a woman on the verge of childbirth.  And it is a completely woman’s experience.  A man cannot quite enter into what she is experiencing no matter how closely he is bound to this event.

And St. Luke contributes his own point of view to this event, which moves beyond the general experience of pregnancy and childbirth, and focuses specifically on the birth of Jesus.  He does this by narrating the touching moment when Mary and Elizabeth, cousins and both pregnant in rather remarkable ways, meet and share their mutually joyful experience of being on the verge of childbirth.  Again, it is an all-women encounter.  It is narrated by Luke the evangelist, but Luke, of course, was a man, and tradition has it that he was a physician, who likely assisted at many childbirths, but he tries his best to pass on to us this particularly memorable meeting of Mary and Elizabeth.

Childbirth, as we know, is a universal experience, not confined to just any one group of people, but to the Jewish people it was an especially momentous event because tied so closely into the Jewish expectation of the coming Messiah—an anticipation likely not shared by other ethnic groups.  And, of course, that was exactly what stood at the heart of these two women meeting—a truly unique event.  The only downside of the church celebrating this encounter was that it occurs on the shortest day of the year, possibly rushing our celebration of it too quickly to adequately appreciate it.

So with joy in our hearts we pray for all pregnant women that they deliver safely/that no abortions occur because of inadequate resources to nurture the health of the newborns/that this winter not be too harsh on the poor/in gratitude to all families welcoming new life into their midst/.

Fr. Sebastian MacDonald, C.P. is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.