December 19/Fourth Monday of Advent
“For the boy shall be consecrated to God from the womb,
until the day of his death.’” ~ Judges 13.7
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength. ~ Psalm 71.6
A friend of mine, not a regular church-goer at the moment, recently remarked after a funeral that she was glad she had been brought up going to church, because she felt comfortable in religious surroundings. For others who have left the faith of their childhood, being raised in a specific religious tradition provides a framework to which they can return someday, a place to go back to, a home to dwell in again. Lucky are they who are thus brought up. For our relationship with God, as our two first readings today attest, begins before we are even born. And while not all of us will have to forego wine and strong drink, and abjure food that is ritually impure, we are all, like Samson, consecrated to God from the womb. From the moment that God’s spirit animates us, we are assigned a specific role in the history of salvation. Our work is to discern what, exactly, that role is. This process of discovery works best when it draws on that lifelong connection to God and is centered upon Him. As the medieval Dominican mystic, Meister Eckhart, wrote, “Whoever wants to start a good life should do so like someone setting out a circle. If he has fixed the center of the circle accurately, and it remains firm, then the line of the circle will be a good one. In other words, a person should first learn to set his heart firmly in God, and then he will be constant in all his works.” We may not all lean on God from birth, as the psalmist does. But whether we are newcomers, late-comers, or returnees, by drawing strength from his inexhaustible store of love, we may truly understand how we are to consecrate our lives in his service.
O God of every living creature, Grant that I may be ever mindful of the generosity and sacrifice of those who have gone before me, and make me, like them, an instrument of your peace. Amen.
To hear VOCES8 sing Stephen Paulus’ “The Road Home,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R__Vk67p2Is
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121922.cfm
