As we prepare for the coming of the Son of God, we will journey with the Holy Family. Depending upon the calendar, the fourth week of Advent could have one day or six days, but we will spend them all with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
We journey with Mary and Joseph as they make their way to Bethlehem, where there will be no room for them at the inn. There they will settle in at a stable and Jesus will be born in humility in the quiet of the night. We will be with Mary and Joseph in the ordinary moments of life and in the extraordinary circumstance of God coming to earth as we all do, as a small and wonderful child.
The stable wherein Jesus is born says so much about the desires and love of God. It is no coincidence that Jesus is born in a stable. In the divine providence of God, he chooses to be born there. This act is rich in symbolism of many things, but I would like to offer a quote often attributed to Servant of God Dorothy Day for your pondering today and this week:
“My soul is so much like a stable. It is poor and in unsatisfactory condition because of guilt, falsehoods, inadequacies, and sin. Yet I believe that if Jesus can be born in a stable, maybe he can also be born in me.”
What we have noticed in our hearts these past three weeks is that we all have places of glory and places of poverty. As we consider our mothers and fathers and ourselves as children, we see the darkness and the light. We also see that Jesus is in the middle of everything. He desires to take us into his own family. Jesus desires to restore our families and our image of family. He reveals his glory in the very midst of our poverty, including the poverty of our families. It is here that Jesus decides and delights to be born again and again. It is right here, dear friends. Oh, how he loves us. How deeply so.
May these days of Advent heal you and your family. May the grace of these days heal mother, father, and child. May these days lead to deep levels of grace, peace, understanding, kindness, newness, and compassion. May you know that you are not alone on this journey and that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are with you always, now and forever.
Amen.
This excerpt from Behold: A Guided Advent Journal for Prayer and Meditation is reprinted with permission of Ave Maria Press.
Sr. Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, is a popular Catholic speaker, cohost of the Abiding Together podcast, and the author of the bestselling book Loved as I Am, Restore, and Behold.
