On falling pregnant with Jesus, Mary could not have known what to expect. In this reflection, we connect her experience that first Advent with our own journey through this pandemic year.
Becoming and being pregnant are physical, sensual experiences - rooted in human bodies. And yet, these experiences lie mysteriously beyond the field of our control.
Back in March, when we had no idea how long the new pandemic situation would last, we hoped that by late summer life would be back to some normality. We had no idea, really! We were not in control. And now we say, ‘It’s a good job we didn’t know then how long this would last’.
Did Mary have any inkling of what to expect when she agreed to nurture through the slow process of pregnancy, give birth to and then become mother of the Son of Man? How might she have seen it all ‘ending’?
~
Read about the beginning of her journey as told in the Gospel according to Luke. You may like to listen to this song by Pentatonix inspired by her story, or read the lyrics here.
Perhaps, as for us in March 2020, it’s a good job Mary didn’t know the full consequences of starting her journey with a ‘Yes’ to the Divine request.
Mary was prepared to welcome and nurture the new life inside her, despite the difficulties with which it presented her in her immediate circumstances. Thereafter, she walked faithfully with that growing life.
Perhaps this Advent can be a time to consider and accept our dashed hopes caused by the Covid restrictions that have introduced changes to our lives. What might you need from the Divine to help you accept these changes, and to say ‘Yes’ to them?
Perhaps this is also a time to ponder what might be: the possibility of new life, new ways of doing and being. We might ask the Divine for an open heart that can recognise, accept and nurture new seeds of possibility. We might be surprised beyond any of our expectations.
Prayer
Let the world hold its breath,
for good is coming in all its vulnerable newness.
Deep within our life a wonder is conceived,
hidden in humanity’s moments of faithfulness.
Look for it, for it is near.
Believe in it, for it is of God.
Be ready to nurture its life among [you]
for it is a precious gift for all history.
Break into our lives, O God.
Bring down justice like rain upon the earth.
Raise up, from within the depths of our lives,
love that will never let our neighbours go.
Cover us with healing grace
and conceive in the centre of despair
surprising freshness and energies for creative change.
Surround us with ideas which spring up
like green shoots in concrete,
defying dryness and challenging deathliness
from Liturgies for High Days by Dorothy McRae-McMahon