THOUGHTS OF A NUN

Be a Sign of Love     

On the Feast of Our Lady of the Sign
October 29, 2006

As a child I had always wondered why Gabriel told Mary to call Jesus Jesus instead of Emmanuel-God with us. I still don’t have that answer but I’m sure there is one. Perhaps I will talk about that someday when I have some possible answers. For now though I’d like to reflect on other thoughts this feast brings to mind.

Those who attended Sr. Rebecca’s icon talk last week heard some of the interpretations given for this icon.  From very early times Jesus’ mother standing with uplifted/outstretched hands was understood as a sign, a symbol of the praying church. Jesus, depicted as a babe or older, reveals the mystery that we, being the church, are Christ praying to God. When we pray, we are not alone. Christ continues to pray through us. As Jesus was hidden within Mary’s womb so Jesus is hidden within us.

We would no doubt like our prayers to be a conscious and felt communion with Jesus. It is always quite reasonable since Jesus is Emmanuel-God with us- to talk to Jesus.  Over and over though, coming down through the ages, experienced voices tell us that this is not always or even often the norm to feel this union with God. There are times when there is a lonely dryness of prayer that seems useless or going nowhere. Other times we are allowed a glimpse of what is really going on in us but we frequently cannot capture these glimpses in such a way as to later reassure ourselves of their meaning or even their reality.

Sometimes though when we feel driven to pray to God because of our utter helplessness, the passion of that heartfelt prayer can be more efficacious than even our regular daily prayer.  The lesson of the Publican and Pharisee seems to indicate this. If we truly realize this possibility we cannot ignore or dismiss the integrity of anyone else, no matter what they look like. 

At the same time this icon can also recall to us what the friendship and saving work of Jesus is for: to bring us into the life that Jesus lives and the prayer he prays. If Jesus is not always a distinct and comforting presence before our eyes, it is not a mark of spiritual failure. Rather it is that we are being taken gradually into the mysteriousness of Jesus praying to God. It is a mysteriousness that seems can only be experienced as darkness and a pathless desert.

Another idea to keep in mind is if we take Mary as a symbol of ourselves, notice that while her hands are open to God in prayer, her eyes are open to the world. Mary is looking at us with Jesus in her heart, opening her hands to God.  Our prayer in turn is formed and shaped by how we look at the world, its pain, delight, hunger, grief and hope.

This symbol of the praying church indicates that Christ is the living center of our lives. We cannot tie God down to our criteria but we need to see the world truthfully, to have our eyes open to where real need lies as well as to the currents of thought and imagination in our own day. Can we look at the world as if with God’s eyes?

Let our hands be open to God, our eyes open to the world, because within us there is the hidden energy that soaks all reality with divine action, divine love. Whenever you see the icon of the Virgin of the Sign (the icon on the left of the three icons across the web home page above) or think of it, let us remember our prayer is with Jesus- God with us.

Jesus’ prayer is the ceaseless movement towards God responding to the outflowing of the Father’s love. There is a need to become more aware of this powerful and faithful presence within us, the church. 
 Christ is in our midst! Glory be to Jesus Christ!