{"id":2267,"date":"2022-12-08T06:49:41","date_gmt":"2022-12-08T06:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/turveyabbey.org.uk\/blog\/?p=2267"},"modified":"2022-12-08T08:10:54","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T08:10:54","slug":"a-path-through-advent-with-st-benedict-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/turveyabbey.org.uk\/blog\/?p=2267","title":{"rendered":"A Path Through Advent with St Benedict (12)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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IMMACULATE CONCEPTION<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genesis 3:9-15, 20
Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12
Luke 1:26-38<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her book, Born Contemplative<\/strong>, Madeleine Simon writes about the spiritual development of young children and explores her thesis that we are all born with an innate capacity for God. She says that a child\u2019s faith journey begins the moment the mother knows that she is pregnant. As we celebrate today\u2019s Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception the church invites us to stand back and to imagine that moment when Mary was conceived, the beginning of her faith journey. All that we know of her parents comes from pious legend and so we are left to imagine the upright, God-fearing couple, Joachim and Anne, who have followed the path of Torah all their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our liturgy today we are engaged in a collective looking back over the story of our salvation. The story of the Fall in Genesis Ch 3 looms large and lays before us the human dynamic of sin and shame. It\u2019s always important to hold Genesis Ch 1 alongside Ch 3, as here we find a theology of blessing: ‘And God saw that it was good.\u2019<\/strong> Our relationship with God is ruptured, but it is not beyond repair. God never loses sight of our innate capacity to live with Him in love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole of Biblical revelation charts the path of God\u2019s relationship with his people. We see in each page God\u2019s desire to restore harmony. God will use the lowly and the weak to fulfill his plan. Mary enters the story of our salvation as one who is poor and lowly. She has been nurtured in a tradition of God\u2019s Word (Torah), God\u2019s Service (Prayer) and God\u2019s Work (Kindness). She had learnt the ways of faithfulness and love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In today\u2019s Gospel story of the Annunciation, we see the flowering of God\u2019s plan as Mary is told that she has \u2018won God\u2019s favour\u2019. Every small choice from the very moment of her conception has led to this day. It\u2019s easy to feel inadequate when Mary is held up as \u2018the one without sin\u2019. But perhaps we could see today\u2019s feast as an invitation to make each small choice count?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The day to day life of a monastic is made up of many little things. The monastic may not feel as if she is running at all. At the beginning of my novitiate my novice mistress said to me: ‘Never underestimate the energy it takes to turn up at the right place, at the right time, with the appropriate expression on your face.’ These were wise words indeed and I revisit them frequently. Saying my ‘Yes’ to God opened up a world where faithfulness is needed for the big things and the little. You largely don’t go in search of the big things, they come to you. But the small things are there around every corner in the monastery. When life seems overwhelming and there are many calls on your heart and your mind, I have learnt the wisdom of just doing the next right thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is God calling you to say ‘Yes’ this Advent?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Genesis 3:9-15, 20Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12Luke 1:26-38 In her book, Born Contemplative, Madeleine Simon writes about the spiritual development of young children and explores her thesis that we are all born with an innate capacity for God. She says that a child\u2019s faith journey begins the moment the mother knows that she is pregnant. … <\/p>\n

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