TRUITY Spiritual Mentoring

In this gospel passage Jesus has turned toward Jerusalem: heading toward his confrontations with the authorities that will lead to his crucifixion. We Christians have also turned our faces toward the Cross. We have entered into a season of serious reflection; a time when we set aside "childish things" and silly habits: when we fast and pray and consider our Lord’s death and resurrection.

But it all seems to have happened so quickly.

It seems as if it was only yesterday that we were celebrating Jesus’ birth.

In fact it has only been two months since Christmas day. Surely it is far too soon to begin our mourning.

Because the church year conflates the life of Christ — which lasted, by traditional accounts, at least 33 years — into a twelve-month period, we have to hurry. We attend the blessed infant’s dedication, when Anna and Simon make their prophetic appearances. We hear that, as a teenager, he remained behind in Jerusalem when his family made a pilgrimage to the holy city. But those brief moments are all we hear of his childhood.

Our experience is that Jesus goes from an infant to an adult in no time at all. He is all grown up, his ministry fully established and the fullness of his glory revealed within a matter of weeks.

I think that’s too bad.

I think it is unfair to our Lord’s earthly parents, and it is unfair to us. We have no real understanding or appreciation of the part that Mary and Joseph played in Jesus’ development. We forget that all Mary could do was "ponder in her heart" the events around Jesus birth — while changing dirty nappies, bathing, feeding, training, and playing with her baby boy. For years on end there were no more angelic messengers or adoring shepherds, and the sweet Mother continued to love and care for Jesus tenderly.

And what of Joseph? He had done what was good and holy by taking Mary and the child as his own. When the voices and dreams subsided, were there days when he wondered about the circumstances of Mary’s pregnancy — when he looked at the child and wondered who the real father was? Yet the dear earthly father made a family life for them all: providing a home, food, and safety; he would have listened to the boy’s prayers and read the Scriptures with him. We can imagine that such a kindhearted man brought gentle delight and a sense of playfulness into the life of our Lord — perhaps Jesus’ penchant for story-telling came from Joseph’s influence.

God entrusted the Christ Child to earthly parents. I think we often fail to realize just how remarkable that is; what an act of faith it was. Our Holy Creator believed that humankind — in the persons of Mary and Joseph — would do what was right and good; would love and nurture and protect God’s child: raising him in the ways of righteousness.

Considering our track record, that’s really something.

Yesterday’s paper reported that an abandoned infant — his umbilical cord still attached — had been discovered. A woman, out walking her dog, found the baby boy, stuffed behind some bushes. Blessedly, despite his exposure to the rain and wintry cold, the child was still alive and is now being cared for at the local Children’s Hospital.

Often these stories do not have such a happy ending.

Giving Jesus to us was an amazing act of trust on the Beloved’s part. Knowing what God knows about us, the Holy One still sent us the Lord — to care for, to love, to protect, and to listen to.

And Mary and Joseph did. That, too, is remarkable; worthy of celebration, and of emulation.

Because of their love, their tender care, their commitment to doing what was right and good, Mary and Joseph were instrumental in bringing the Gospel into the world. What they said, what they believed was possible, how they acted ... the way they lived their lives made a difference — a vast and holy difference for all humanity.

These were ordinary people whom the Beloved trusted to behave humanely — to be the kind of people God designed us all to be. Isn’t it extraordinary that such behavior is considered "extraordinary"!

What they did — we can do.

As Christians, we have been entrusted with the Christ Child. All of the evidence indicates that the Gospel is still in its infancy here in our world; compassion and mercy, love and tender care are still in short supply. The Good News of hope and joy, of God’s sweet and eternal love for us, needs to be nurtured. It needs to grow and mature — to reach out to all nations and all peoples.

The Lenten Season always arrives "too soon." It is always too early to think about the death of our Lord on the Cross when He hasn’t yet come alive in the hearts and minds of God’s people.

What Mary and Joseph did, we can do. As Mother Teresa said, "Simple acts of love and kindness keep the light of Christ burning." We can bring the Gospel into the lives of those we meet. By what we say, what we hope for, how we act — we can make a vast and holy difference for all humanity.

Like a mustard seed that grows into a huge tree, ordinary people can do "extraordinary" things.

May your Lenten Season be filled with extraordinary moments!

Virtual hugs and real-time blessings,

Deborah +

This Week’s Suggested Spiritual Exercise: In what way have others nurtured Christ’s message of love and joy in your life? Who has encouraged your hope and faith, and how? Bless and give thanks to God for these souls and, if possible, tell them how much they have meant to you. In what ways might you do what they have done?

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