Take Time to really celebrate the Incarnational Moment!
2 Samuel 7:1-16 ~ Psalm 89 ~ Romans 16:25-27 ~ Luke 1:26-38
We give time to that which is important for us in our lives. Christmas is a time for celebrating Love. Christ was born. God made flesh. What greater Love? We think of those that we love in our family and friends. With our Vincentian charism as Ladies of Charity, we see ‘incarnate love’ in the vulnerable and marginated. Christ is born again in the faces of the Poor. We serve and often it is not what we give the poor person in front of us, but the message we convey that “you are important to me.” I call you by name just as 2000 years ago, a babe was born in Bethlehem and they named Him, “Jesus.”
In this 4th week of Advent, the readings remind us of making time to be available for the Incarnational Moment. In the first reading, (2 Samuel 7:1-5), King David is concerned about the ark of the covenant being housed in ‘a tent’. God urges David to ‘build a house’ for the ark of the covenant.’ “Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me.” In the Gospel, Mary ponders the word of the angel, Gabriel, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” But Mary thinks “how can this be?” Gabriel, the angel, reminds Mary that “nothing will be impossible for God.” (Luke 1: 26-38). Mary, in faith, responds “be it done to me according to your Word.” Ironically, in the line of David, Jesus Christ is born in a stable. Without a house, the Incarnational Moment begins “the new covenant” with God’s people.
As Ladies of Charity, we need to take time to ponder the awesomeness of this Incarnational Moment that brings alive our covenant with a God who so loves us that He came to earth and lived amongst us.
-Sister Frances Ryan, DC
LCUSA Spiritual Moderator