Where can we find some quiet during this busy time of getting ready for Christmas – running from store to store, shopping, wrapping, cleaning, cooking?
Mary was a woman who cultivated a quiet heart so that she could listen for the voice of God in her life. Mary’s prayerfulness and quiet heart colored everything for her.
Tradition tells us that Mary’s parents, Anne and Joachim, presented her in the temple and dedicated her to God at a very young age. Anne and Joachim were prayerful people who passed on to their daughter, Mary, that sense of the need to live a life of prayer and reflection.
Prayer and being aware of God’s presence was an important part of the family life. And, as a family, Mary and her parents prayed together and shared the truths about God’s action and goodness in their lives.
We see Mary as one who takes the time and space for quiet prayer. We see Mary as one who has a relationship with her God. We see Mary as one who listens to God’s messages and sees God’s actions in her life and her world. And we see Mary as one who responds in faith and love to her God so that Advent can take place – so that Christ can be born.
Like Mary, we are called to cultivate a quiet heart and allow Christ to grow in us.
Advent reminds us, day by day, that Christ is born in the silence of our heart – in the space within each of us in which love dwells.
Let us this Advent, pray through Mary’s intercession, that we continue to search for silence and quiet needed in our lives, that we continue to allow Jesus to dwell within us, and that we continue to provide the space to receive God’s message and to respond in faith.
Sister Eileen is a member of the RENEW staff, a spiritual director, and an avid Mets fan.