by Linda Ballard, osc
Isaiah 7:10-14, 8:10 | Hebrews 10:4-10 | Luke 1:26-38
As our knees bend to Creed this day, it is good to remember that even Lent sings God’s willingness to be part of us.
In the five-thousand one-hundred and ninety-ninth year of the creation of the world, Jesus Christ, desiring to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, and nine months have passed since his conception, was born … of the Virgin Mary, being made flesh (Christmas Proclamation).
It is a two-fold celebration today. God asked. Mary answered. God wants us as a partner. God wants us to birth God before peoples and generations. Nine months from today is Christmas. In the midst of our desert wanderings, in the midst of our refusal to see, in the midst of our search for water, God came to a woman bound by death and asked her to bring forth LIFE. And she said yes. And so do we.
For today, it is that simple. Mercy is coming. The world is made sacred, and God is PRESENCE from us and for us. Our timing may be faulty, but God’s timing is always right. It is okay to wonder. Do not be afraid.
* This reflection appeared in Wrestling With Presence: Reflections for Lent, published by Pax Christi USA in 2006.