Christmas Chapter Talk 2021

 

“He is born in us continually as our minds, our actions, our reactions, our relationships, our experience and our prayer are Christified.”

 (‘The Coming of God’ by Sr Maria Boulding)

 

This is a wonderful reality to reflect on and a great grace to live from today – Christ is born in us continually, and with each new birth we are conformed to him more and more in patience, tenderness and compassion.  He is born in us continually; constantly inviting us to a renewed and deeper understanding of his ways, his desires for our lives and for our Church.

This new birth of Christ at this time is a call to explore what a Synodal Church might look like.  Pope Francis suggests three characteristic which he would like to see in our Church:

  • The first is that it would be a more fraternal church. ‘Walls do not and should not exist in the Catholic Church…for the Church is a common home, a place of relationships and of coexistence in diversity’.
  • The second characteristic of this synodal church is humility. “A synodal church is able to listen and learn from others and admit mistakes.  The way of the Lord is always the way of meekness, of littleness of kenosis.”
  • The third characteristic of the synodal Church is that it is prophetic. Pope Francis wants “to model a Church that shares the pain of the suffering poor of our world, refugees, migrants.  He wants us all to share their pain and support their needs and rights.”

 

I think it is very important that we be informed and educated about our faith.  Always good to read again and again the teaching of the 2nd Vatican Council, the inspired teaching of Pope Francis in his many Encyclicals and publications especially “The Joy of the Gospel”.  Valuing times of silence in order to listen for the guidance of the Holy Spirit we can then choose to live in a new and dynamic way the call to be fraternal, humble and prophetic in our lifestyle, in our values, in our relationships.

I pray for this grace for all of us this Christmastide.

Christ is born in us continually and so has given humanity a glory and a promise that nothing can undo.  Our  human world, our humanity is refashioned, reformed and recreated in Christ.  All that is human has been touched by the divine and so all of creation, all of humanity, all that we do is graced and blessed and unites in us our humanity and Christ’s divinity.

 

– This reflection is from the Chapter Talk given by Mother Marie to the community on Christmas Eve, 2021.

 

We would like to wish all our website visitors a joyful, peaceful Christmas and many blessings for a happy and healthy new year ahead.

– the Abbess and community at Glencairn.