Sacrifice.

Just that word can make us shutter.  It can make us want to run in the other direction.  Or maybe it can make us think, “No, not another one of those talks on Catholicism and sacrifice…”

I know for myself when I hear this word, I immediately think of those times I heard “offer it up” when I was growing up, but not understanding  what that meant.

But Sister, hear me out…I think a healthy and open conversation about sacrifice is so important to our Church today.​

One brisk winter day a few weeks ago, I walked through the rosary garden at a local shrine.  A cool breeze brushed up against my face, and the setting sun left a picturesque view over the hills of Pennsylvania.  Taking in this beautiful scenic day, I was talking with the Lord about the burdens of my heart.

I would like to say that 2018 ended with a joyous close, but in reality, it was quite a time of wrestling with the Lord.  I was bringing to Jesus and Mary all that has been on my heart-the joys, struggles, hopes, and relationships.

I came on retreat to take time to find answers with the Lord and to talk with Him as a friend. In the midst of my day at the shrine, the words of a meditation I had read years before came to mind.

“God does indeed give people to us; he gives us brothers and sisters in our humanity... Every such person, in some way, is a gift to us, and we can say of each: 'God has given you to me'” – Meditation on Givenness

A cold night. Animals as neighbors. Sharing your child’s “crib” with food that animals eat from. Sleeping on Straw. Smells of a stable day and night…

This definitely is not what we image as the first Christmas.  Usually, we picture the perfect looking Christmas card image- Mary and Joseph radiant with Jesus, Kings and shepherds all neat and pristine to see their newborn King, where Jesus looks He is sleeping comfortably as in a crib. 

And yet, even with this all too common image of a beautiful Christmas, how often does it sometimes deter us from the reality that God became Man, not in the perfect ideal setting, but rather, in probably one of the most difficult and messy situations.

Mary, the mother of Christ, a 14 year old young woman, probably could have preferred that God choose another time to have this happen in her life. Along with Joseph and her newborn child, they would be pilgrims in an unknown land. Mary would give birth to her child without her whole family celebrating with her. There were many parts of this situation which seemed to go against the ideal.  Yet, God became man in this.  He chose out of all times, places, people, and situations in history, to come into this one. 

This... This was the circumstance that God chose. Throughout thousands of years, God told His people that He would send a Messiah, He encouraged them to eagerly await His coming. His people, generation upon generation, waited for this moment in history when God would redeem his people, and this was the time He chose.

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
 
To be seen.  Just those words alone have a mix of connotations for me.  It is the ultimate desire of my heart, but also something I run from.
 
A few days ago, I was doing Visio Divina (praying with art) with this image with a group of young adults.  What struck all of us was that Jesus noticed this woman.  His look is impenetrable.  Jesus went beyond the social constructs of the time and spoke to her.