Dear Friend,

Friday of the Fourth Week of Advent

Reflection by Rev. Msgr. Joseph R. Reilly

Recently I got a call from a couple I had married a number of years ago. After a long time of trying to conceive, they had their first child, a boy, and they asked if I would baptize him. I was honored to be asked and gladly agreed to do so. Because of a number of issues, the baptism was put off, but they asked if I could come to their home and bless the baby before Christmas. Again, I was happy to do so.

From the moment I was greeted at the door, their joy was effusive – both mother and father. As we sat and talked, the sense of gladness grew even stronger and more palpable. The mother recounted to me how anxious she was being pregnant, hoping that this time there would be no complications or problems. She shared with me the prayer she would say each morning as she was touching her belly:

“Mommy loves you and Daddy loves you. God dwells within you. Jesus has his arms wrapped around you making sure that you grow healthy and safely.” 

Holding back my tears, I thought to myself how blessed this young child is – to be surrounded by such expectant faith, hope and trust in God. All of life is in God’s hands. This young couple were well aware of that truth.

In the delivery room, after their healthy son was born, he would not stop crying, so the nurse passed him to his father, and he still cried. When he was brought to his mother, she took him in her arms, and spoke her daily prayer to him. Immediately, he stopped crying. A mother’s touch, for sure. A familiar voice, indeed. A moment of grace, without a doubt!

The gospel for today, December 23rd, recounts the birth of John the Baptist to another couple who spent many years childless. Another moment of God’s grace being manifest in our world. The words that capture the spirit of this moment take me back to my visit to the home when I was asked to bless my friends’ newborn son: mercy, rejoice, amazed, blessing, awe before mystery of God’s power and presence. “All who heard these things took them to heart.”

I believe this phrase can be for us a beautiful meditation as we move towards the end of the Advent season. “All who heard these things took them to heart.” Taking some time – making some time – in these next days to allow God to speak to your heart. Give God the opportunity and the space to allow His ways to become your ways. Can you and I give God the permission and the place to continue working on our hearts, remaking and refashioning them to be like Christ’s heart? Do you and I trust in God’s deep love enough to submit to God’s means – to be shaped into a vessel of God’s own making in God’s time by God’s hands? That’s the heart of the matter – for our Advent journey and for the life of every disciple. This is the place where true gladness is found – in Palestine, in Bayonne, and wherever we find ourselves.

The image for today from the Seminary chapel is of the pelican, an ancient reference to Christ and the Eucharist. As the mother pelican would pierce her own heart to feed her young, so Jesus Christ offers Himself for the life of the world. May God’s ways become our ways!

Prayer:

Dear Lord, on this eve of Christmas Eve, may our hearts be open to you and to your voice. May our hearts be moved to peace, comfort, gladness, hope and trust. May we abide with you today and always. Amen.

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Rev. Msgr. Joseph Reilly, S.T.L., Ph.D., former Rector/Dean, Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology. He holds a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, a licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) from Pontificio Istituto Teresianum, Rome, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Fordham University. He has served as a member of the Archdiocesan Priest Personnel Board, the Advisory Committee on Continuing Education and Ongoing Formation of Priests, the Archdiocesan Vocations Board, and the Board of Trustees of Seton Hall University. Pope John Paul II named him a Chaplain to His Holiness in 2005, with the title of Reverend Monsignor. In 2016 during the Holy Year of Mercy, the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization sought priests who were living signs "of the Father's welcome to all those in search of His forgiveness." He was the only priest from the Archdiocese of Newark formally commissioned as a Missionary of Mercy by Pope Francis.