JESUS MAFA. Visit of the Three Wise Men, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. [retrieved January 8, 2017]
Go gently, intentionally in the presence of God.
On entering the house [the magi] saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Matthew 2:11
![Piedad serie negra By RuizAnglada (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ruizanglada_-_Piedad_serie_negra_195x150_1984_A-L_-_Catalogo_1995_Palacio_de_Sastago_Zaragoza.jpg)
Piedad serie negra 195×150 1984 A-L
By RuizAnglada (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Luke 2:19
Balzhausen, Leonhardskapelle, Krippe
Photo: Andreas Praefcke
May I follow the example of the shepherds. May I hasten to seek God’s Word. May I pay reverence to the most vulnerable of our human family.
When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. Luke 2:15-16
God is with us, God is in charge, God’s vision still has its time. Do not be afraid.
[The angel of the Lord said, “Mary] will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” Matthew 1:21-23
A nanosecond of silence. The compassion of strangers. The comfort of family and friends. The difficulty of pain, illness, or stress.
In unexpected moments of grace, we are made aware of the presence of the Lord and our hearts leap with joy.
[Elizabeth said,] “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Luke 1:43
![Francois-Barthelemy-Marius Abel (1832-1870) Figure kneeling in prayer, 1856 Watercolor and brown ink on mediumweight off-white wove paper By Shepherd Gallery (Flickr: ABEL - Figure Kneeling in Prayer) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ABEL_-_Figure_Kneeling_in_Prayer.jpg)
Francois-Barthelemy-Marius Abel (1832-1870)
Figure kneeling in prayer, 1856
Watercolor and brown ink on medium weight off-white wove paper
By Shepherd Gallery (Flickr: ABEL – Figure Kneeling in Prayer) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
I forget prayer is a time of self-emptying, of surrendering myself to God.
Today I will pray to be blessed with the knowledge of God’s will for me and the grace to carry it out.
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” Mark 10:35
Henry Ossawa Tanner, American (active France), 1859 – 1937
The Annunciation, 1898
oil on canvas
Philadelphia Museum of Art
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. Luke 1:26-27
God sends specific messengers to specific locations to specific people every day.
I met several of God’s messengers at the Salvation Army Friday. Some were tiny children crying for their mothers. Some were cranky or bossy or argumentative adults. I did my best to keep saying “yes” to bearing God’s Love into the swirl of human emotions. It took all my energy.
Some messengers were kind and efficient, unfailingly gracious and cheerful. They are a living example of saying “yes” to being Love Bearers in our world where all of us just want to love and be loved.
The Flight into Egypt
Attributed to Rembrandt, via Wikimedia Commons
Take care of your father when he is old;
grieve him not as long as he lives.
Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him;
revile him not all the days of his life;
kindness to a father will not be forgotten,
firmly planted against the debt of your sins
—a house raised in justice to you. Sirach 3:12-14
He is so fragile, my father, and every day getting physically smaller as his Spirit outgrows his frail body.
He doesn’t know us any more, but his smile is as sweet as ever and lights up his eyes. “I love you,” he says over and over. He hasn’t lost the inner wisdom that still knows how to “put on love, the bond of perfection.”
Mary Ann McSweeny 
