Childless Women

 “I am an unhappy woman. I have had neither wine nor liquor; I was only pouring out my troubles to the LORD." 1 Sam 1:15

Hannah, unable to get pregnant, pours out her concerns to God. Assuring God in quiet prayer that she will give any child she bears to God for God's service, Eli, the priest, seeing her praying and crying, thinks she is drunk. Assuring Eli that she has had nothing to drink, she tells Eli of her unhappiness and Eli prays that God will give her what she so ardently desires.

Reading this passage, I think of dozens of women I have known who wanted to bear children, spent thousands of dollars being tested, and still were unable to conceive. Hearing their stories over the years, my heart broke for them but no assurance on my part that women did not have to bear children to be beloved of God consoled them. No doubt all who are reading this know women like Hannah.

How sensitive we need to be to those whose stories we do not know. All of bear some sorrow and the Gospel response is simple. Listen to them as God listen to us and trust that will be enough.

Today, pray for someone you know is struggling in marriage or trying to have a child.

Who taught you how to accompany those who suffer?

The Baptism of the Lord

 "I need to be baptized by you, yet you are coming to me?" Mt 3:14

With this feast, the season of Christmas comes to an end, but the challenge to give birth to the Christ begins in earnest and John the Baptist teaches us how to go forward. John's humility about his own role and his assurance that Jesus is the Messiah lifts us up and sends us forth in hope. Jesus, Isaiah and John remind us, has not come into the world to destroy it, but to assure all those listening, especially the poor, that his task is to heal the bruised reed and keep alive the flame of faith, but only if we accept his word and allow his power to transform us.

As Jesus begins his public ministry by having John baptize him, it is clear that he will risk anything so that his message from his Father will be clear and transparent. Jesus is among us to announce Good News, but his message will be difficult for those who want to cling to power, wealth and worldly prestige. Jesus wants to set us free from the domination of all systems that fail to create a just world. This message will be his downfall and our salvation.

Today, put aside your fears of being broken and weak. Our God heals.

Is it time to begin again your own ministry of service and freedom?

The Epiphany of the Lord

 "Where is the newborn king of the Jews?" Mt 2:2

Stability is something we all seek.  We want a permanent job, a house or apartment of our own that we can afford.  We want our children to do well in school and enter strong solid marriages.  It goes on and on.  Stability is like a prize that we cannot live without, but today's readings ask us to make a very deep examination of conscience.

What kind of stability are really seeking? Jesus does not offer us the kind of stability that God seemed to promise the Jews of old. Though they would enter the Promised land and build a temple that signaled to all the world that they were God's people, Jesus tells us that stability of place is not the gift he is bringing, not the Good News. He promises us internal stability, the assurance that God is with us in the flesh, and will send his Spirit to dwell within us and among us forever which makes us God's holy temple and his tabernacle.

We are a pilgrim people who build places of worship and call them churches, but the real church is us.  United in faith with the assurance that God will be our anchor, we are set free from the compulsive need to live in one place, have the same job forever, and measure our success by what we have rather than who we are.

Today, ask God to give you a stable relationship in faith to continue your journey.

How do you understand the stability that God promises us?

Testing our Spirits

I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God. 1 Jn 5:13

The testing of our spirits is always a struggle. We see, or prefer to see ourselves, in a certain light, but not until our self image is tested do we know whether the self we want to be and have others know is authentic. All sorts of questions emerge about our spirituality when we lose our temper, speak poorly about others, or hold a grudge. At the same time, it is not healthy to reduce ourselves or anyone else to their faults.

The book of Wisdom alerts us to the fact that all of us will be tested, but especially the Christ, and it is Jesus who gives us an example of authenticity under the most threatening of circumstances. Ironically, it is Jesus obedience and submission to God's will that most convinces us of his claims to divinity. While others might be able to accept their own death as an ordinary dimension of life, Jesus embraces death for us so that he might demonstrate God's unconditional love for us and free us for a life with him at the eternal banquet.

Of course, none of us seeks suffering and diminishment, but few us escape the daily tests to our spiritual values. Fears, anxieties, darkness come to everyone who lives even a few years. How we respond to these trials will be the ultimate mark of our commitment to the Gospel.

Today, die to one memory that traps you in self pity.

Which areas of your life are most "testing" for you?