“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
T. S. Eliot
Little Gidding
(#4 of ‘Four Quartets)
People are interested in their roots. Origins have become the rage. We learn from the past. Yet, humanity today is afraid of the womb, that place of secret origins and momentous beginnings. Humanity today – shackled as it is by “political correctness” – is no longer able to think clearly about any controversial subject. Because the pro-abortion lobby has gained political control of human “reproduction”, and fears to lose control, It obstinately refuses – absolutely refuses! – any possible link between the womb and the nursery, between the unborn baby’s ultrasound image and the newborn baby’s first photograph. The pro-abortion lobby defines them as two different species: the unborn as a growing subhuman entity and the born baby as a baby human being.
But humanity needs humility and truth. And when we contemplate our first tenuous months in the womb of our mother, we see how tiny we once were, how dependent and vulnerable and unable on our own… (Indeed, our futures too, in old age, may draw comparisons…) From the moment of conception a person, an identifiable (that is, unique and growing) human being exists and journeys forward. This amazing new unborn life beckons and calls out, first to his/her mother, then to the world…
The open-minded scientist who studies prenatal life moves from marvel to mystery to Miracle! If he or she completes the “exploration”. If “exploring” gets side-tracked, as it so often does, by “political correctness” – read “bowing to the pro-abortion lobby ” – then the opportunity to “know the place for the first time”, to sense the Miracle, is lost.
The sense of awe and wonder which should surround the unborn child in the womb must be fostered. You and I must encourage it! The future of humanity depends on it! If our culture and society forsake the unborn child in his/her beauty and dignity, then forsaking respect for all human beings will not be far behind.
We must encourage exploring-with-dignity-and-proper-intention of the world of the unborn baby. The womb must always be a welcoming place and the unborn child must always be welcomed in it. In this way we will “know the place for the first time”, and know that it is a sacred place for a holy purpose and its occupant is created in the likeness and image of God.
Unborn children are bursting with potential! They are vital, full of energy, hope and promise! So says the Culture of Life.
But the selfish culture of death just doesn’t see it that way. Hence the decades-long struggle for the right to life of defenseless unborn children.
In an address to the Diplomatic Corps at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI said that “the poorest human beings are unborn children” (1/8/09). He may have been referring to their ‘poverty of (acknowledged) human rights’ which leads to a ‘poverty in human protection’.
In his January 1, 2009 annual Message for The World Day of Peace, Benedict XVI noted: “The extermination of millions of unborn children, in the name of the fight against poverty, actually constitutes the destruction of the poorest of all human beings.”
This is the contradiction of a culture of death: That the human beings with the most potential and promise are the poorest human beings of all because they have not one shred of a human right to cling to!
Mother Teresa saw the situation for what it was: “Unborn children are among the poorest of the poor. They are so close to God.”
The good news then is that God loves every innocent unborn child! As Jesus once explained:
“…do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have no more they can do…fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Lk 12:4-7
Visitation by Fra Angelico
We find this line in the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Think of Mary, after she is visited by the Archangel Gabriel and she has conceived Christ the Lord within her womb…
“In those days Mary arose and went with haste, into the hill country, to a city of Judah…” Lk 1:39
“For you shall go out in joy, and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing…” Isaiah 55:12
All of Judah longed for the Messiah…When would he come?
How would he make his entrance in the hill country of Judea?
He was the long-awaited One, the people all desired to see his day!
Here comes a young woman, exuding peace to comfort her people,
How beautiful upon the mountains are her feet,
As she brings good tidings…
Good news of a great joy which will come to all the people…
The very hills of Judea desire her secret, which she carries beneath her heart,
She carries within her, in expectation, the One who Is…
THE DESIRE OF THE EVERLASTING HILLS!
But how will he be received?
Now Mary sees the house of Zechariah, she runs with excitement…
She enters the home and greets her cousin Elizabeth…
Elizabeth cries out:
“…when the voice of your greeting came to my ears,
the babe in my womb leaped for joy.”
HEART OF JESUS, DESIRE OF THE UNBORN CHILDREN,
HAVE MERCY ON US.
Filed under: Pro-life
On our last post ( February 15th) we cited a number of reasons for the Pro-life movement to have hope.
One new project mentioned was the Red Envelope Project. We got an email from a 30 year Catholic school teacher who receives our newsletter who thought that this would be an ideal project for schools. My immediate response was ‘what a great idea’. This is a perfect project not only for Catholic and Christian schools but also for Youth Groups and Confirmation programs.
I would urge those of you who know Catholic and Christian school teachers and Youth group coordinators to propose this project to them. Send them a link to the Red Envelope Project. Click here for the link.
In order for this endeavor to be successful we need to get lots of people to send 1, 10 and even more envelopes to the President.
This idea is catching on – here are some links.
One blog on family life called Parenting Freedom suggests this as a great family project.
Hawaii Right to Life and the Illinois Federation for Right to Life both spotlight the Red Envelope Project on their internet news sites. I know that Shield of Roses sent me an email alert about this project. If you run a Right to Life newsletter or e-alert you might consider mentioning this idea in it.
Many blogs like Holy Innocents Blog, Joyful Days, Jill Stanek, American Papist, the Brown Pelican Society of Louisiana, Confessions of a Catholic Mom, Overheard in the Sacristy, and Da Mihi Animas to name a few have highlighted this project.
It is also getting some news coverage, Life News.com, Examiner.com, World Christian Press , Free Republic , Catholic.net , DFW Catholic, and the National Catholic Register.
The Red Envelope Project is trying to keep track of how many envelopes people have sent – click here to go to their site and let them know how many envelopes you have sent.
On their site they say that over 1 million 688 thousand envelopes have been sent so far.
It is better to Light One Candle than to Curse The Darkness
Here is a small list of good signs for the pro-life movement.
On December 30, 2008, the U.S. Bishops released a survey showing that most Americans support laws limiting or regulating abortion. Click here to see the survey.
A recent USA Today/Gallup poll shows that only 35 percent of those surveyed approve of the President’s controversial move ‘allowing funding to overseas family planning groups that provide abortions.’ Fifty-eight percent disapproved of this executive order. Click here to see this poll.
Missouri, Oklahoma Legislators File Resolutions Against FOCA Abortion Bill Click here to read about this.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has launched a national postcard campaign urging Congress to maintain widely-supported pro-life policies and to oppose the federal funding and promotion of abortion. Launched on January 24-25, the campaign is being coordinated through the USCCB’s partner organization, the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment (NCHLA). Click here to read more. Click here for instructions on how to get involved.
Many pro-life groups are fighting FOCA . One group that is leading the way is Americans United for Life (a really great group that has a great website for information on how to stand up for the unborn.)
Click here for the website.
This following article is a good short readable summary of FOCA ( The Freedom of Choice Act).
A Radical Attempt to Prematurely End Debate Over Abortion by Denise M. Burke
Click here to sign AUL’s fight FOCA petition. For other action alerts from AUL click here.
Another really creative idea circulating the internet is called the Red Envelope Project. They are calling on pro-lifers to send 50 million red envelopes to the White House. Each envelope representing a baby killed by abortion in this country. Click here to learn more.
There are tens of thousands of pro-life groups around the world. This is cause for hope. We are not alone when we stand up for the unborn.
Priests for Life has a great resource list of Pro-life groups around the world (including the U.S.). Click here to go to their Links To International Pro-Life Community page.
God is Pro-life A Catholic Mom in Hawaii
But the answer is always sure to come.
Nor a breath of holy desire
Poured out in prayer to God
Will ever be lost.
And fall in showers of mercy on you
And on all those for whom you work and pray.
Virgin and Child, Tom Dusterberg
“To overcome the world we must become children. To become children we must fold our consciousness upon the Divine Infant who is the center of our being; who is our being itself; and all that we are must be absorbed in Him; whatever remains of self must be the cradle in which he lies.
This is the answer to Herod in all times, the answer of St. Teresa of Lisieux in our time: ‘the little way of Spiritual Childhood’, which is the oneing of the soul with God, in the passion of the Infant Christ.”
Caryll Houselander, The Passion of the Infant Christ, (1941).
Filed under: Pro-life, Quotes from Great Christians, The Incarnation, Unborn Jesus
Our Lady of Expectation
“Let it be it done to me according to Thy word” (Luke 1:38 )
St Bernadine calls these words “A flame of transforming love”.
Mother St. Paul said of these words:
“It was a transformation for the world. This word of Mary’s, by which she gave her consent to God’s plan of Redemption, changed the face of the whole world. It began a new era A.D. instead of B.C. It settled the moment of the arrival of the ” fullness of time ” (Gal. 4.:4) – of God’s time. As a result of it, God was already tabernacling among men. The leaven of the Gospel, which was to leaven the whole world, was already beginning to work. Mary s word produced a transformation in the world, and though it “knew Him not,” it was never the same world again.” Mother St. Paul, Mater Christi, 1918
Let us ponder the power and grace that flooded the world when Christ was conceived in Mary’s womb. At the one cell stage, Christ fundamentally changed the world.
Christ wanted to show humanity how special that one cell stage is by fundamentally changing the world at that beginning point of His Incarnate life.
He raised that moment in each person’s life to a dignity and beauty that we will never fully comprehend.
The Culture of Death, like darkness, tries to encroach upon this light, this new illuminated life to extinguish it.
Let us pray that our world will say the same transforming words for each newly conceived child that Mary said for Jesus.
“Let is be done to (us) according to Thy word.” (Luke 1:38 )
From the ByzanTEENS at the March for Life this year, an icon of the Visitation, showing not only Mary and Elizabeth, but John the Baptist and Jesus in their mothers’ wombs. Notice that John is kneeling and Jesus is blessing him. Photo and caption from Political Housewyf.
The One who is the Light of the World – Lumen Gentium – is also the ‘King’ in the Kingdom of God.
“In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has
not overcome it.” Jn 1:4-5
But what exactly is at the center of the Culture of Life? Without a doubt the Church is instrumental in creating and maintaining a Culture of life. Ultimately it is Christ who is the Centerpoint of the Culture of Life, its very Source.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth;
we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father…
And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace.” Jn 1:14,16
The Culture of Life is a moral compass for the world of today. And our modern world desperately needs this compass! Christ asks each Christian each day; “Will you hold up this moral compass for your neighbor to see, for your community in its turbulent and often misguided searching?”
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.
Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand,
and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men…” Mt 5:14-16
Yet the Source of this Life, the Source of this Light is Christ! If you look carefully, ‘midst the Glory and the Grace of it all, you will see a young pregnant woman standing in the glistening shadows of God. She is Mary, and within her womb – at the very Heart of the Culture of Life – is the Unborn Christ Child, hands outstretched, His tiny hidden heart rapidly pulsing with Love…merciful…redeeming…purifying…Love!
Oldest Madonna della Misericordia in Venice, dated circa 1325 detail Academia, by Paolo Veneziano
Anonymous Prato, Madonna of childbirth, Prato, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo
By coming into the world as a little unborn baby, and living that existence for nine months, Jesus sanctified the unborn state and the relationship between the unborn child and his parents, particularly the relationship with his mother. Day after day, month by month Jesus was nothing but an insignificant unborn baby. He chose this restricted unborn life to show the depths of God’s love for us. Perhaps the world can not understand nor appreciate it, but we Christians must!
The modern world would have us judge unborn babies superficially by our limited abilities of observation; what we can observe them doing, learning, achieving and mastering. Not so with God. He sees us for who we are, rather than what we can or can not do. As the philosophical maxim states; “action follows being”. When God appeared to Moses He revealed His identity by stating: “I AM WHO AM.” So too, it is more important that we discover Who Unborn Jesus is rather than what things He might have done as an unborn baby.
And the same is true for all unborn babies. God designed “personhood” to be a secret core mystery of life to be discovered by oneself and others on nature’s terms, not ours. God hides the “unborn person” in the womb, almost in a suspended state of love that is, suspended between God’s creative love for the new creature and the mother’s nurturing love until the beauty of the infant’s physical development is sufficient to reflect the fullness of the infant soul. As one professor of pastoral theology has noted “awe is intrinsic to parenting”. Months of waiting contributes to the sense of awe that parents experience through pregnancy and birth. And awe is also an essential element in respecting human life as both gift and blessing.
Parents who, respecting nature and nature’s God, patiently wait for the birth of their child, grow themselves in that very virtue patience that they will need most in the upbringing of the child. The “unborn person” is literally a “buried treasure” of personhood and personality but, like wine, needs to age. Such a respectful attitude was that held by Mary and Joseph during the months of the second and third trimesters. It should be the attitude of all expectant parents.
From Unborn Jesus Our Hope by George Peate,
Filed under: Biblical Reflections
Accademia, by Jacobello del Fiore
The Lord is with thee. These words were often said of or to those to whom God was about to entrust some special work.
God told Abraham that he would be with him when made his covenant with him “Abram tell flat on his face. And God said to him: “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. Genesis 17:2-4
He was “with Joseph ” while he was in Putiphar’s prison, preparing him for the great work of serving the nation during the famine. “But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.” (Gen. 39. 21.)
“I will be with thee,” God said to Moses at the burning bush, when He told him that it was he who was to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. “I will be with you; and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you: when you bring my people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this very mountain.” (Ex. 3 12.)
And to Joshua, who had to bring the chosen people into the promised land, He said : “As I have been with Moses, so I will be with thee… Fear not, and be not dismayed: because the Lord thy God is with thee in all things whatsoever thou shalt go to.” (Jos. 1. 5,9.)
“The Lord is with thee, O most valiant of men.” This was the message the angel brought to Gideon at the threshing floor, for he was to leave his wheat and go to deliver God’s people from idolatry and from their enemies. (Jud. 6. 12.)
In the New Testament there are two instances where these special words are spoken. They are the last words Jesus said to the Apostles before he ascended into Heaven. These are the words that accompanied His commission to send them out to bring the Good News to the world. “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
And they are among the first words spoken to Mary:
“And now when Mary is being singled out for the greatest work that was ever entrusted to any child of Adam that of being the Mother of Him Who was to save not one nation only, but the whole world, God sends an Archangel and bids him say to her : ‘The Lord is with thee.’ (Lk. 1:28 ) God was with Mary always; but now all three Persons of the Blessed Trinity are to be with her in a very special way, to enable her to co-operate with God’s designs for her.” From Mater Christi by Mother St. Paul, 1920.
January 22 In America
It’s “that day” again.
Like any other day except…
From the bench they attacked us,
Those Solomon impostors
Knowing not when to cease.
Their wisdom aborted, their justice inept.
Morality’s sweet milk tainted-
The sacred standard of life succumbed.
Even the children seem lifeless today.
But on the horizon lies March twenty-five.
The feast of all hope and Christ alive!
His Incarnation to answer “bad justice” –
God’s Child is with us!
And in nine months only
We can embrace this tiny mercy.
December twenty-five, I will bend my knee
With the true wise men three,
Not to man’s injustice, but to a little baby.
By George A. Peate
Filed under: Pro-life
Pontius Pilate washing his hands
“I am personally opposed to abortion, but…”
Thousands of politicians around the world over the last number of decades, since the legalization of abortion, have borrowed heavily from the game plan of Pontius Pilate:
Pilate “took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this righteous man’s blood; see to it yourselves’ (Mt 27:24). Translation 2,000 years later: “I am innocent of this righteous unborn baby’s blood; exercise your freedom of choice”.
Two days before the inauguration, our local Ventura County, CA newspaper, The Star, featured a front page article about Catholic, Doug Kmiec, the one time conservative Republican, turned avid Obama supporter. The paper portrayed him as a visionary and martyr for truth. Quoting Kmiec about the rejection he has been receiving from conservatives: “We’re instructed as Christians to turn the other cheek. When the cheek keeps getting whacked, you feel the sting”.
On the abortion issue, Kmiec – who appeared a few months ago at the local Catholic seminary in a widely publicized event at which he was the only featured speaker – defends Obama: “Though Obama supports a woman’s right to choose, he’s personally opposed to abortion, Kmiec said…”
In this “personal opposition” Obama joins a long line of infamous “Christian” politicians before him who have freely chosen to write the unborn off! Enter Joe Biden, who has served 36 years in the Senate, presiding over the massive assault on the unborn from his safe Senate seat, while his conscience took a back seat. (It should be noted that he was first sworn into the Senate on January 3, 1973 – just 20 days before the Supreme Court legalized abortion.)
But few can equal the audacious unrepentant Obama, as when he flippantly told moderator Rev. Rick Warren at Saddleback Church during the Presidential Campaign “That’s above my pay grade” in response to the question about when human life begins. A debater’s slight-of-tongue! A false humility, behind which the cagey debater can dodge momentarily! Claiming ignorance as a cover for one’s duplicitous acts! Reading between the lines: if it is above his “pay grade”, and he’s going to be President of the United States then no one else should presume to know the answer either! In other words, “it’s above everyone’s pay grade” so it can’t be known, and no one is culpable. Treacherous trickery!
We consider now the last two verses of this beautiful Psalm, verses 5-6.
In the early Church, Psalm 23 was associated with the three sacraments of initiation: Baptism – verse 2 “beside the still waters”, Confirmation – verse 5 “thou anointest my head with oil”, Eucharist – verse 5 “Thou preparest a table before me”. Further, it even seemed to comment on one’s new life in the Church and one’s promised life hereafter: “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (verse 6). It seems like a prophetic Ecclesiastical Psalm.
But let’s step back and look at two other simple themes running through this Psalm: the Path of Righteousness and the Will of God.
THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: “he leadeth me” (v.2), “he leadeth me” (v.3), “in the paths of righteousness” (v.3), “I walk…thou art with me” (v.4), “shall follow me” (v.6). Psalm 23 describes a journey of faith, a journey along a path which leads us to a place; the Church. Nature reveals God’s creative hand to us (v.2), but proceeding we experience the tender hand of God as “He restoreth my soul” (v.3) and then comforts me (v.4). By the time we arrive at His Eucharistic liturgy, “He preparest a table before me” (v.5), almost like a servant – reminding us of Jesus washing the feet of His apostles at the Last Supper. And Jesus did prepare the table for them at that last supper as He changed the bread into His Body and the wine into His Blood – this was thoughtful loving preparation. So the “waters” of verse 2 have now been changed into wine “my cup runneth over”, and within the Church, into His blood. “He prepares the mystical table” as the early Church Father, St. Gregory of Nyssa, commented concerning verse 5.
THE WILL OF GOD: “The Lord is my shepherd” tells us right away that we are sheep who must follow the Shepherd’s “will”. It is His tender-hearted will that we rest and eat in “green pastures” and rest and drink “the still waters” (v.2) because He intends to “restoreth” our souls. He wills that we represent Him even within the “valley of the shadow of death” (v.4) – today read “valley of the culture of death”. He protects us by being with us; “for thou art with me” (v.4). He is strong and mighty, inspiring His flock to witness to the truth of His Culture of Life “for his name’s sake” (v.3). Verses 5-6 speak of the abundant blessings which the Lord intends for us; sacramentally, mystically, eternally, first in this world, then in the next. “Mercy and goodness shall follow me” within the Mystical Body of Christ, as God wills.
The Good Shepherd also entrusted Peter with this shepherding tradition and mandate: “Feed my lambs”, “Tend my sheep”, “Feed my sheep” (Jn 21:15,16,17).
The second of three reflections on Psalm 23, considers verse 4.
The last line of verse 3 – “he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name sake” – brings us to “walking the walk” in verse 4:
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
Are we surprised that righteousness has led us into a certain element of risk and danger? Confronting evil in the world has become difficult. 21st century consequences – that is, problematic and unexpected ones – are now multiplying. What seemed simple has become much more complicated, partly due to the sins and weaknesses of the Good Shepherd’s followers, and partly due to the moral shambles of modern civilization.
We are walking through the sinister valley of the “culture of death”! But God is with us – that changes everything! “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom 5:20). So the Christian, that is, the follower of the Good Shepherd, should not be afraid. Just stay close to Him, don’t wander off…
King David, the author of this Psalm, was a shepherd and later a king. Christ the Lord is also both Shepherd and King. But when Christ was coming into the world it was an awesome fearsome thing. First, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the priest Zechariah. His first words were: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah…(Lk 1:13). Then Gabriel appeared to Mary: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!…Do not be afraid, Mary…(Lk 1:28,30). Later, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream: “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife…(Mt 1:20). And finally in the hills of Bethlehem an angel of the Lord came to the shepherds watching their flocks: “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy…(Lk 2:10).
He is Emmanuel, which means “God is with us” (Isa 7:14). So, as verse 4 tells us: “I will fear no evil: for (God) art with me”…God is with us.
“Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”. The shepherd’s rod and staff remind us of the prophecy that the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs” (Gen 49:10). The rod (scepter-like) is for exercising power by striking an enemy, defending against evil. The staff is for steadying one on his journey, leaning upon it for comforting rest.
So the Messiah would be Emmanuel, “God with us”, a Shepherd King guiding and protecting us. His sign is a cross of two beams, much like a rod and staff intersecting and fastened together.With the cross He has already defeated death and evil. From our 21st century vantage point we look out to Nazareth and Bethlehem and we see Him coming: The Shepherd King of the Culture of Life.
See also: Another reflection on Psalm 23.
The first of three reflections on Psalm 23, considers verses 1-3.
In one of his great Messianic outpourings, Isaiah told us that the Messiah would be “like a shepherd”: feeding his flock, gently leading them, gathering them in his arms and holding them “in his bosom” (Isa 40:11). So when we read “The Lord is my shepherd” we are to picture the tenderhearted Christ who once told His followers “I am the good shepherd” (Jn 10:11). In verse 3 of the Psalm we read that the shepherd “leadeth me in the paths of righteousness”. Jesus alluded to this when He described the good shepherd: “…the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out…he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice” (Jn 10:2-4). So Jesus the good shepherd leads us in the paths of righteousness, into all good.
When we read about the green pastures, first we should appreciate the fact that these are “His pastures”, but for our benefit. St. Cyril of Alexandria, an early Church Father, says the pastures are “the ever-fresh words of Holy Scripture, which nourishes the hearts of believers and gives them spiritual strength”.
But to my mind, perhaps the key to this entire Psalm is found in the following words: “He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul” (Ps 23:2-3). Many early Church Fathers took this reference to “waters” as a reference to baptism. So, just as Jesus Himself was baptized, so He leads us along this righteous path to also be baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:18-20).
This baptism “restoreth my soul” in the proper and holy relationship it is meant to have with the Holy Trinity. These still waters, beside which we rest, are also very deep waters. That is, they are deep mystically speaking, like the waters of the Jordan River within which Jesus was baptized. When Jesus emerged from the water witnesses beheld a Trinitarian Theophany: a Dove (the Holy Spirit) came down upon Him and a Voice (the Father’s) resounded around Him: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt 3:13-17). We can quietly meditate beside these still waters, beside this pool of Revelation, discovering here the deep mysteries of the Holy Trinity.
Gaze again upon these still mystical waters into the mystery of the Incarnation. See how the Incarnate Unborn Jesus first meets John the Baptist when both dwelled within the deep amniotic waters of their mothers’ wombs. In this first meeting, Christ anointed the unborn baby John with His Spirit and John leaped for joy (Lk 1:39-44).
The Good Shepherd leads us “beside still waters”, where we rejoice as we contemplate the deep teaching of the Holy Trinity and the Incarnation. As baptized Christians we rest here, content. Another early Church Father, St. Gregory of Nyssa, reflecting on verses 2-3 of this Psalm refers to “the pastures and fountains of doctrine”. In due course, we hear again the voice of the Good Shepherd: “…whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn 4:14).
Andrea di Bartolo from Jesi, Platytera as Madonna Madonna della Misericordia, Ostrense Belvedere, Church of Our Lady of Mercy:
The new Vatican document Dignitas Personae refers to Christ’s identification with humanity but also points out that his identification began in the womb. Here are two beautiful quotes about this identification from Deacon Keith Fournier of Catholic Online.
“As a pre-born child, Jesus sanctified all mother’s wombs by dwelling within the temple of His beloved self-chosen mother. This is the greatest argument that Christians have against the horror of procured abortion. In an age which rejects the truths of revelation we also argue from the truth of reason, the Natural Law. However for those who believe that Jesus the Redeemer lived, ruled and reigned as King in that Holy womb, the evil of the taking of innocent human lives through abortion comes into focus. The latest instruction from the Holy See entitled ‘The Dignity of Persons’ speaks of ‘Embryonic Persons’. God became an embryonic person and has forever identified with these smallest members of our human family.” The Dignity of the Person’: The Catholic Church, Defender and Champion of Life by Deacon Keith Fournier
“As we move closer to the Day when those who bear the name Christian will commemorate the Nativity of the Lord, let us remember the incredible truth revealed in the Mystery which we will celebrate, there was a Redeemer in the Womb. The Incarnate Word became one of us, at every stage. In fact, Jesus was an ’embryonic person’, to use the salient phrase taken from this newest Vatican document, and is forever identified with all embryonic persons.” Merry Christmas: Incarnate Love is Born Today by Deacon Keith Fournier
UNBORN WORD of the day 