HOPE taken by sji

 

dec 18 2005 The Annunciation

Lk 1:26-38 The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

The Annunciation...the message of God delivered by an angel to the young virgin who has just been filled with the Holy Spirit. The stories of barren women who will bear children are also fulfilled in this reading. Elizabeth, is with child. With every child that is every born there is a hope with that precious new life of a future that can be bright. I believe that every mother has a hope for goodness in the future for their child.

When I was training to become a nurse, I worked in a small hospital in North Newark that the opera singer Pavoratti had made many donations to. The mother/baby unit of the hospital was small and there were great opportunities as a student nurse to watch births and participate with mother and baby with after care and teaching.

The saddest thing was to see that there were mothers who would smoke crack and drink beer right up till the delivery time and then take a taxi to the hospital. As confused and unrealistic as these sick mothers were, they too had the hope that even though they did things they knew could be harmful to the baby that maybe it would all work out and the baby would be healthy. I could see that these mothers were worried about the babies and really wanted everything to work out for them but had lost control of their own lives. Sometimes the babies who tested positive for drugs were taken away from theses mothers. It was heartbreaking to see the mother have little baby clothes and gifts for the child and hopes and dreams and have to go home without their child. The staff said that often after a time the child would be placed back into the home with the mother who has unresolved substance abuse problems. Such an unsteady, and unsettling beginning for a child to be born into and yet there is hope. For me it was one of the saddest things i have ever seen in my life.

I pray this morning for all newly born children that they have homes of peace and care and love and that God and God's people reach out to any little ones who are in need of help. I also pray for babies who having loving mothers but homes with no resourcs of proper food, shelter or sanitation.