When I was a child, I faithfully attended Catechism classes in the Roman Catholic Church. It was not unusual to have 50 -100 children in your class. The nun teaching the class certainly had her hands full!
When I was 7, preparing to receive Holy Communion, I remember being puzzled by something I saw at Mass. In those days, the priest faced the back alter, not the people. He would take a large round white host and lift it high above his head while saying some words in Latin, which I did not understand. Then, from that one host, hundreds of hosts would appear at Communion. In my mind, this seemed like magic. I remember asking the nun about this in class and not understanding her answer. However, there was one response by the nuns that I will never forget—“it’s a mystery.”
It seems to me, that at times we confuse mystery with magic. For example, one might say a prayer and expect God to answer with whatever was asked for; or when faced with a need, one might neglect to do something about it and expect God to take care of it. It is as though God is a magician. However, magic is external to us; while mystery requires us to be active participants.
In order to begin to comprehend mystery, especially the mystery of God, we must actively enter into the mystery. Certainly, in order to begin to understand the mystery of the Incarnation, Divinity taking on humanity, we need to spend some time in meditation, prayer and worship. Reading scripture and spending time in prayer is helpful, but we also need to use our imagination. Imagining ourselves in the Nativity story, trying to imagine the feelings and thoughts of those involved; and even meditating on the words of a Christmas hymn- all these help us enter more deeply into the mystery of Incarnation. Taking the time to sit with the stories or the lyrics and allowing our mind and heart to imagine, can lead to a more profound understanding of this mystery.
God is mystery and it turns out that the nuns teaching my Catechism class were right. So much of what we try to explain contains mystery. This Advent I invite you to deepen your understanding of the mystery of Incarnation. Use your imagination- engage your mind, body and spirit in new ways- take time to be with this awesome mystery and may your celebration of this Incarnation be more meaningful than ever!......
Doreen Bottone
When I was 7, preparing to receive Holy Communion, I remember being puzzled by something I saw at Mass. In those days, the priest faced the back alter, not the people. He would take a large round white host and lift it high above his head while saying some words in Latin, which I did not understand. Then, from that one host, hundreds of hosts would appear at Communion. In my mind, this seemed like magic. I remember asking the nun about this in class and not understanding her answer. However, there was one response by the nuns that I will never forget—“it’s a mystery.”
It seems to me, that at times we confuse mystery with magic. For example, one might say a prayer and expect God to answer with whatever was asked for; or when faced with a need, one might neglect to do something about it and expect God to take care of it. It is as though God is a magician. However, magic is external to us; while mystery requires us to be active participants.
In order to begin to comprehend mystery, especially the mystery of God, we must actively enter into the mystery. Certainly, in order to begin to understand the mystery of the Incarnation, Divinity taking on humanity, we need to spend some time in meditation, prayer and worship. Reading scripture and spending time in prayer is helpful, but we also need to use our imagination. Imagining ourselves in the Nativity story, trying to imagine the feelings and thoughts of those involved; and even meditating on the words of a Christmas hymn- all these help us enter more deeply into the mystery of Incarnation. Taking the time to sit with the stories or the lyrics and allowing our mind and heart to imagine, can lead to a more profound understanding of this mystery.
God is mystery and it turns out that the nuns teaching my Catechism class were right. So much of what we try to explain contains mystery. This Advent I invite you to deepen your understanding of the mystery of Incarnation. Use your imagination- engage your mind, body and spirit in new ways- take time to be with this awesome mystery and may your celebration of this Incarnation be more meaningful than ever!......
Doreen Bottone