First Week of
Beautiful Advent
Wednesday's Healing Moment
Saint Mother Teresa became a saint because she was able to see Christ in the most difficult, even impossible places, even the "distressing disguise of the poor.” Slowly, & with deliberate prayers, Christ is healing the blindness of my heart & I am learning to see Christ in unexpected places. But, admittedly, it is much easier for me to see Christ in the joy of my grandson, the kindness in the eyes of my husband, or the thoughtfulness of a friend than Christ's distressing disguises.
One of my nephews, raised without a faith, often joked with me when asked about his faith, that he could believe in "baby Jesus". At first I didn't quite know how to respond to his quip. "Baby Jesus" may be a great place to begin, the Christmas story is our first connection to Christ's human life. My nephew Teddy, has cerebral palsy, so a fragile and dependent baby would be easy to understand. Perhaps God came to humanity as one of us, & began life as we begin our journey, so that we could see Him in every aspect of our humanity. We can see Him as a baby, a young boy, in a family, eating, drinking, sleeping, with friend & sinners, celebrating & suffering, struggling & growing in all the things we do. He came to every part of humanity and to every one of us; both the vulnerable and the beautiful, the dependent & the strong, the suffering & the joyful.
Advent opens our eyes to the gift of life, our beginnings too and the hope that every baby brings. We can celebrate & focus, see the fragile & precious beauty of Christ as an infant, and Christ with His mother & father. Some of us may be faithful enough to see with the perfect vision of a Mother Teresa & see Christ everywhere, but even so, learning to see the Christ child & celebrate His birth may help us to see not only the miraculous gift of love God gave humanity on Christmas two thousand years ago, but the gift of love every human life can be.
Lord, help us to see Christ’s presence in prayerful reverence of all human life. Enlarge, our hardened hearts, heal our blindness, prepare us to see Christ’s Beauty everywhere & in everyone.
Amen.
~ debra.
Readings
Isaiah 25:6-10 • Psalms 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6 • Matthew 15:29-37
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