"We Are Pregnant!"
In the divine scheme of things, new human life is created with a father and a mother. However, only women are given the singular privilege of carrying this new life, a baby, within her body for some time until she brings forth this new human being into the world.
For all that is involved in her pregnancy -- the caring, the protecting, the nurturing of this baby, the pain involved in its delivery, and the joyful anticipation of her child's coming, mothers deserve all the love, appreciation and honor they can get.
Mothers indeed are precious!
When the Son of God came into this world in human flesh, He dwelt for a time in the womb of a mother, Mary, and received from her the love, nurturing and caring until the great miraculous event of the first Christmas day.
It is obvious: pregnancy is a precondition and preparation for birth.
In the Church's liturgical year we prepare for celebrating the birth of Jesus through the four-week season of Advent. It is a season of spiritual preparation through prayer and longing for the coming of Christ, the Babe of Bethlehem and the Savior of the world.
Advent is a time of focusing on "being pregnant" with Christ in us Who even now resides in ourselves, and in a most intimate way, through His precious Body and Blood that we receive in the Holy Eucharist. "Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks my Blood has life in him, and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:54)
Truly, for us as followers and lovers of Christ, we need to carry Him and nurture Him in our minds and hearts, in a sense "being pregnant" with Him. And if we do, we are bringing Him, consciously and unconsciously, into the world around us.
In the midst of the present-day commercialization of Christmas such that Advent is practically lost, may we not forget to focus on our spiritual preparation for the coming of Christ. That way our Christmas will be more meaningful and more filled with joy.
May we endeavor to carry Christ in our hearts, be pregnant with Christ living there so that we can deliver Him and share Him with others, with the world through our life of faith, love, and joy!#
"Come, Lord Jesus, come!"
