Another wonderful Advent reading

Yesterday's reading from St. Ambrose, which I didn't read until late last night, deals first with Mary's trust in the word which the angel spoke to her, which led to her journey to visit with her elderly kinswoman Elizabeth.  It then moved on to the interaction of the Holy Spirit among the four people present at their meeting.  Jesus' presence in Mary's womb was perceived first by John in Elizabeth's, and the sons inspired the movement of the Spirit in their mothers.  Only after John stirs in her womb does Elizabeth greet Mary with the words that become part of our wonderful prayer requesting Mary's intercession in our lives, then wondrously question why the mother of her Lord should come to her.  Mary's response in the Magnificat is a prayer of praise and wonder and trust rooted in God's wondrous work that we should all echo with our lives.

This morning it struck me how often our children lead us to some fresh insight into or understanding of the boundless love of God.  I'm amazed at how becoming a parent helps us to experience God more fully, in so many different ways. To describe just a few that I have experienced:

• The initial awe of having participated in the creation of the marvelous new person, who is in our own image yet is unique unto themselves.
• The wonder and responsibility of having someone so utterly dependent upon us for their every need.
• The joy of seeing them grow into people who make their own decisions, of being amazed as they choose to love in ways we don't expect or anticipate.
• The pain of seeing them make selfish or short-sighted decisions.
• The self-discipline of withholding action we could take out of respect for their own will and independence.
• The peace of having them return to the right path for their lives.
• Seeing them experience the bounteous wonder of parenthood for themselves.

This wonderful season provides so much practical insight.  People who think that Christianity is irrelevant to modern life have never really entered into it.