Advent Novena - Year A

Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Emmanuel, God with us, in which we prepare our hearts to both receive the Christ and to birth God in our own time and situation. In Year A of the lectionary we explore the story of the coming of the Christ Child according to the gospel of Matthew. 

In the busyness of our world, especially in the lead up to Christmas, it can be very hard to enter into the spacious uncertainty, the yearning and desperate need for a saviour, and the hope and anxiety that our time provokes, in the keeping of a true Advent. This year I am exploring with you a contemporary version of Novena – the discipline of praying for nine days the same prayer as a way of preparing our hearts for the coming of God. (If you spend more than nine days wonderful but at the least it should be a sufficiently “bite size” spiritual discipline that even busy persons can keep!)

Over the nine “days” of this Novena we will explore a part of the narrative according to Matthew’s gospel and other texts. In doing so we will discover just how earthy the Holy One’s heritage was! And hopefully we shall come to appreciate even more deeply how much we belong within the family of Jesus with all our “earthiness”!

Some of the backstory of Jesus may be triggering for some of us and I urge you to be full of care for yourself and have wise and safe people in your network that you can call upon if necessary.

This Advent Novena is intended to be said every day. With a Novena you set an "intention" for your time of prayer. This may be as open as "preparing my heart for the advent of the Christ more fully in my life" or quite specific such as "what is mine to do in my family situation?" For each of the nine days I will provide a brief introduction to an aspect of the story to then take into your prayers. Use what is useful, let go of what is not.

Blessings, Reverend Sue

Gracious God:

Creator of all that was before, is now and might yet be;

Birther of worlds and source from which our Lord Jesus the Christ

sprung and to whom he returned;

Spirit that weaves us all together into the oneness of you;

Hear our prayer.

Quietly notice your breath in and then out for three or more cycles. No need to change your breathing, just notice it.

Open our minds and hearts that we might make room for you and all your dreams and gifts.

Quietly notice your breath in and then out for three or more cycles. No need to change your breathing, just notice it.

Hear our prayer.

Open our hands and our homes that we might make room for you and all your beloved ones.

Quietly notice your breath in and then out for three or more cycles. No need to change your breathing, just notice it.

Hear our prayer.

Open our breath and our living that we might find you within our very life and cease to resist your love and healing.

Quietly notice your breath in and then out for three or more cycles. No need to change your breathing, just notice it.

Hear our prayer.

Open us to your dreams and gifts, your presence, your love and healing touch.

Quietly notice your breath in and then out for three or more cycles. No need to change your breathing, just notice it.

Hear our prayer.

Please feel free to stay in this receptive state longer if you wish.

Amen. May it be so.

 Day One:

Read the gospel of Matthew chapter One verses 1-17.

The genealogy of Jesus. Surely one of the most boring passages in the New Testament. Except it’s not!! Firstly, the names are presented in three groups of fourteen. (And in order to do this some names are left out and some curious ones are included!). So today we pause and reflect on the pattern of the great grandparents of Jesus – of all that happened in order that he might happen amongst us. And over the next days we will reflect on some of those curious ones who are claimed as part of the genealogy of Jesus.

The pattern of three groups of fourteen ancestors is not completely accurate in terms of those who could be included in the great line of ancestors. So, it surely means something more than just who were the great-great-great grandparents of Jesus! The numerology of the arrangement is a play on King David’s name which is surely to emphasis that Jesus is of the line of David. The groupings also lead to Abraham, then David, then to Jesus, emphasising that Abraham and David who received the covenant of God led to Jesus the fulfilment of the covenant!

We can also reflect on all the ordinary and extraordinary people who played their part in the Advent of Jesus and of the part we have to play in bring God to birth in our time and place. If you have ever done some family research, or maybe watched an ancestry tracing reality show, you may have got the impression that all the generations before us did what they did, survived what they did, so that we could come to be. And in one sense that is true – we wouldn’t be here but for what others have done. But they also went about their lives, as best and faithfully as they could, to do what they had to do for their own survival and that of their children and maybe even their children’s children.

And so it would seem to have been for the ancestors of Jesus. They lived as faithfully as they could – sometimes desperately, sometimes triumphantly; with an eye to the horizon for promises fulfilled and the possibility of enemies approaching; trying to discern the favour and intention of God in the success or otherwise of the harvest, the entrails of sacrificed animals, and the portents of the skies; and when God’s intentions were not clear or agreeable doing what they deemed best or best for themselves. Like all of us. And yet out of all this human mess the golden thread of God’s love continued to seek out human hearts and great patterns of grace and purpose can be discerned, when looking back, in the chaos of human history. Looking back we see the overarching history of salvation and hope working towards incarnation.

What are the great patterns that inform, form, traumatise, radicalise, uphold … your family or tribe or group? Was there a before and after epoch because of migration, or war, or plague? Quietly reflect, write, draw, dance, walk, meditate on these matters and then take them into your time of praying the Novena Prayer for Advent and out into your day.

If you want to read further about some of the overarching themes of Matthew’s gospel and the first chapter you may wish to read Professor Bill Loader’s article at:

https://billloader.com/MeetingMatthewWW.pdf

Elizabeth A Johnson, “Dangerous Memories: A Mosaic of Mary in Scripture”, Continuum, New York, 2003

Day Two:

Read the gospel of Matthew 1:2 and all of Genesis 38

Among the names of those who led to the birth of Jesus are the names of four women! And they are not the names of the obviously powerful or virtuous but the names of women who endured and by tenuous means bore the blood line that would lead to Jesus.

The first of those names is that of Tamar. From one mention in the genealogy of Jesus we are led back to one of the disturbing stories of our foremothers and what she went through in order to claim her place. It was a disturbing story in it’s own time and certainly in ours. Tamar was married to the eldest son of Judah, Er, and then widowed without child and so, as was custom and obligation, she was given to the next brother of her deceased husband that she might bear a child (hopefully a son) and contribute to the family and earn her place among the protected and supported. The second son Onan practiced the withdrawal method and did not give her a child. This seems to have displeased God as he then died. The father, Judah, then offers her the third son Shelah when he is old enough - but plans to do otherwise possibly fearing that his third son will also die. Tamar then takes matters into her own hands and seduces her father-in-law to do as he should have – to give her a son so that she would be safe and supported. When Judah realises who has seduced him he acknowledges that she has been more righteous than he himself has been.

The plight of the widow in ancient Israel was a focus of concern and protection because without her primary source of security she was very vulnerable. In recognition of which there were a network of protections including Levirate marriage. This was the responsibility of brothers and fathers to take a widow into their household and produce for her sons who could provide and care for her. This was Judah’s failure.

This story is about so many things! Most certainly about the vulnerability of women (and others without power and independence) in patriarchal society. It is also about the courage of the vulnerable to get what they need and deserve by whatever means they have to even when not overtly noble or proper! It is also about the powerful eventually coming to realise the righteousness of the struggles of the poor. And it is also about the blood line, the life line, that pulses through the history of those who have had to fight to survive and be part of the story!

There are also other possibilities including that Tamar, which is the word for date palm, and the date palm would have been scattered throughout the holy lands then as now, invites us to reflect on the nature of Tamar and her place in the family history. Date palms bore sweetness and sustenance in places of limited food and were part of everyday and ritual food. The date palm was also known for its rigorous and quite invasive root system. So, Tamar might be a reminder of the sweetness and the invasive nature of the one who wishes to survive and needs to seduce and hold on as best one can.

Tamar, who breaks the rules (in one sense) of the patriarchal society is also the one who saves it – by bearing a child of the line of Judah and ultimately a forebear of Jesus! Whatever we may think of Tamar’s actions she is included, by name, as one of those who is counted as a forebear of the Saviour. Jesus was the offspring of real people with real and difficult lives and he did not abhor the womb of his mother or great grandmothers!

We might ponder what sweet and devious things have our forebears (in family and faith) done that they might survive and thrive and that indirectly brought us into being? And what have we done in order to survive and thrive? Take whatever observations and questions most resonate into your time of prayer as you turn to the Novena of this Advent.

Elizabeth A. Johnson, “Dangerous Memoires: A Mosaic of Mary in Scripture”, Continuum, New York, 2003

Professor Claude Mariottini,  

https://claudemariottini.com/2025/11/26/the-plight-of-the-widow-in-ancient-israel/

Professor Jacqueline Vayntrub,

https://www.thetorah.com/artile/her-name-was-tamar-invasive-redemptive 

Rev’d Dr Margaret Wesley, “Tamar: More Righteous and Far More Brave” in

https://faithofourmothers.substack.com/p/tamar-more-righteous-and-far-more-brave 

Day Three:

Read Joshua chapter 2.

The second great-great grandmother of Jesus mentioned in the genealogy is no less controversial or inspiring – Rahab! A prostitute, a foreign woman, a convert, a forebear of Jesus.

Rahab was not only a prostitute but would seem to have been the owner or manager of her house and a provider for her extended family. It is in this capacity that she meets the soldiers/spies of Israel and she shelters them. She would seem to be motivated by both a recognition of the superiority of the Israelites and their God and the desire to protect and ensure the survival of her family. It seems only right that she was successful in saving her family and that she contributed to the line of King David and therefore of Jesus.

This, to our twenty first century ears, is still a story of disturbance – war, destruction, the limited and limiting roles of women - and of tenacious survival and the capacity to change and rescue her own. Reverend David Hardman has written an inspiring reflection in which he identifies Rahab’s gifts as those of:

Strategic Wisdom – for she sees beyond borders, fear, and tribal lines;

Hospitality as Resistance – by offering refuge to the vulnerable;

Courage Reborn as Legacy – in choosing defiance for the sake of life;

Sacred Sight – by recognising God’s movement in unexpected places;

Redemptive Power – she transformed her entire household and future lineage by her actions. All most certainly qualities that our own times call for.

Rahab is remembered as a person of faith (Hebrews 11:31) and as part of the line which led to Jesus. (Matthew 1:5) How does her inclusion in the genaology of Jesus include all of us who are outsiders by origins, culture, profession, and sexual conduct? And in what ways does Rahab’s inclusion honour the sort of courage to change and the strategic actions required to save our own in times of peril? Certainly Rahab’s story reminds us that God uses the marginalised, the despised, and those from “outside” fulfill God’s purposes. By Rahab being remembered and written into the most important story ever - the coming of the Christ Child among us – then we most certainly are written into the story too.

Take whatever most resonates for you into your time of prayer as you return to the Novena.

And remember if this story brings up issues of trauma or severe disturbance please seek out a trusted safe person or professional.

Elizabeth A Johnson, “Dangerous Memories: A Mosaic of Mary in Scripture”, Continuum, New York, 2003

Marian Free in Faith of our Mothers

https://faithofourmothers.substack.com/p/rahab-provider-protecter-and-prostitute?r=320jh0

Reverend David Hardman of Cliff College in Sheffield UK, his piece on Rahab on his Facebook page Rev. David Hardman

Day Four:

Read the book of Ruth (especially 1:15-22; 3:1-15; and 4:1-16)

Ruth is remembered and named among the forebears of Jesus. She is remembered with great respect although her story is not without controversy.

Naomi was married to Elimelek and with their two sons lived in Bethlehem until drought drove them to Moab. During these years the two sons took Moabite wives. Bur during this time Elimelek died and then also the two sons leaving Naomi and her daughters-in-law without protection and support as there were no grandsons. Learning that the drought in Israel had finished Naomoi turned towards home and told her daughters-in-law to return to their families and that they were young enough to hope to marry again and have sons. Ruth refused to leave Naomi and promised to stay with her. This is the portion of the story often read at weddings (which I have often thought strange – do we really want to invoke the image of the new husband dead and his wife to live forever with her also widowed mother-in-law?). However, we less often hear how Ruth came to be included in the lineage of Jesus.

Ruth took advantage of the tradition that allowed widows and foreigners to follow behind the harvesters and glean the spilt grain which allows her to gather enough grain to make flour and feed herself and her mother-in-law. She finds that she is gleaning in the field of Naomi’s relative Boaz who is a kind and generous benefactor. Naomi guides Ruth in her conduct and proposes a situation in which Ruth is to suggest herself to Boaz during the celebrations of the harvest. That is when all have finished celebrating, including drinking, that Ruth, under the cover of darkness, should lay beside Boaz and uncover his feet – or make herself available to him. Boaz awakes to find her beside him and understanding his responsibilities he quietly dismisses her until he can establish if the one person who has a greater claim (through laws about marriage and property) wishes to take advantage of the situation or not. Free to act Boaz takes Ruth as his wife (and Naomi into the household) and the land that had belonged to Elimelek. And they have a son Obed and thus contribute to the genealogy of Jesus.

A much more complex story than the portion read at weddings! There are themes of loyalty and pragmatism intertwined as Ruth and Naomi are loyal to one another and particularly Naomi is pragmatic enough to know where their best chances of survival are.

It is also a story with many themes running through that can be seen to parallel the journey of most souls, especially that of the feminine. Joan Chittister has written a beautiful work called “The Story of Ruth: Twelve Moments in every Woman’s Life.” Moments including those of loss and grief, change and transformation, aging, respect and empowerment, invisibility and of fulfillment.

And Reverend David Harman says that Ruth “is a reminder that the Divine does not honour walls, borders, or national purity. She is the truth that belonging is chosen, not inherited, and that God’s heart is larger than any nation.”

How is your story, and our story, like that of Ruth and Naomi’s? In what ways have we been outsiders who have chosen to belong and have we felt included by God even when others do not? Allow the story to speak and take any questions, realisations, doubts with you into your prayer as we prepare our hearts for new birth.

Joan D Chittister (illustrations by John August Swanson), “The Story of Ruth: Twelve Moments in Every Woman’s Life”, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2000

Reverend David Hardman of Cliff College in Sheffield UK, his piece on Ruth on his Facebook page Rev. David Hardman

Elizabeth A Johnson, “Dangerous Memories: A Mosaic of Mary in Scripture”, Continuum, New York, 2003

Rosemary Gardiner,  https://faithofourmothers.substack.com/p/naomi-and-ruth-2-strong-and-bitter?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Day Five:

Read 2 Samuel: 11-12 and 1 Kings 1

The story of how the wife of the Hittite Uriah, Bathsheba, became a wife of David and the mother of Solomon is as disturbing as any of the stories so far. It is disturbing in several ways. Not least the impression that much of the church for centuries has perpetuated that she was a seductress and in some way lured David. Popular culture has furthered that perception.

A plain reading of the Scripture however makes it clear that her motivations are unknown whereas David’s are very clearly about wrong doing, or having what he wanted regardless of the impact on others, and covering up his wrongdoing! He takes another man’s wife without consent (his own leader of the army doing what he should be doing on the battlefield), and then finding that she was pregnant seeks to deceive his captain by having him come home. However, Uriah refuses the comfort of his wife and home as a matter of principle for which he is murdered!

And as though the loss of her husband is not suffering enough the child dies. Supposedly to punish David but no mention that Bathsheba’s grief is great and undeserved. In all of this she has little or no agency and is “done to” by David. But once a wife of the king and the mother of another child, Solomon, she steps forward and strategizes for the power of her child and therefore herself. And in so doing becomes part of the blood line of Jesus.

Bathsheba is not repenting of her “sin” but is stepping forward into her destiny and using what agency she has to make sure that Solomon, who will be remembered forever as the wise and compassionate king, can play his role. Her demands are so righteous and right for the needs of the people that the aging king David acknowledges the promise made and the prophet Nathaniel and members of the court all agree that this is what is right to happen. Without the courage and perseverance of Bathsheba Solomon may never have been king! Like all the special and curious grandmothers mentioned Bathsheba did what she needed to do to survive and thrive with integrity and by so doing contributed to the coming of the Christ Child.

Many commentators have tried to find a common link between the four mentioned grandmothers and Mary herself but it is difficult to define. Some were Israelites married to Israelites; others were foreign. Certainly, they were all vulnerable in the way that many women were and all had to fight and strategize to be included in the ways that they needed to be, and in so doing became part of the Divine plan of salvation for all.

Raymond Brown (a mainstream commentator) suggests that the genealogy presents these women and their actions as vehicles of divine providence, and examples of how God moves in and through the obstacles of human scandal to bring about the coming of the Messiah. And Elaine Wainwright (a feminist commentator) suggests that the foremothers of Jesus, whether through widowhood, or a prostitute, (or like Mary unmarried), do not belong to men in a traditional domestic arrangement and that this makes them dangerous to the patriarchal system! “Jesus is as much the son of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba as he is of Abraham and David”. (Johnson, 2003)

Take these thoughts and empowering ideas into your prayers as you open your heart to what the Divine may desire to birth through you and with you!

Elizabeth A Johnson, “Dangerous Memories: A Mosaic of Mary in Scripture”, Continuum, New York, 2003

https://revdrmargaretwesley.substack.com/p/jesus-son-of-bathsheba-have-mercy?r=320jh0

Day Six:

Read Matthew 1:16-25.

I was ordained in 2005 on the Festival of Mary Mother of our Lord. (I confess that I was initially disappointed not be ordained on Mary Magdalene’s feast day as she seemed more powerful, less under the control of the patriarchy and the church?). But over time I have come to revere the power and faithfulness of Mary and see her as a role model, not in passivity but in whole hearted, passionate and courageous faith.

The account of the birth narrative in Matthew’s gospel seems to place most of the agency and drama with Joseph and Mary plays her part without audible question or apparent choice?! And yet even the sentence or two given to Mary’s part in the genealogy of Jesus according to Matthew continues the pattern of the grandmothers. “Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.” (1:16) It is not the pattern of fathers begetting but of Mary birthing! The patriarchal system has been, if not shattered, then circumvented at least. And this places Mary in an important but  vulnerable position – not least the possibility of ‘righteous’ punishment for being pregnant not by her husband.

Because Matthew give’s Mary no direct voice we need to borrow or claim some of our understanding of Mary from the gospel of Luke to flesh out our appreciation. (Read Luke 1:26-56) By including what we know of Mary from Luke we know that she was invited to take part and she chose, albeit with trepidation, to take her part.

We also are reminded that Mary recognises that the holy child that she is heavy with will be saviour and disturber, the one who will be merciful and an overthrower of current ways of exercising power! That is, even before Jesus is born, Mary has an increasing awareness of the holy and unique quality and purpose of the child she carries. And according to Luke 2:34-35 Mary knows shortly after his birth that bearing and mothering this holy child will pierce her very soul and cost her dearly.

For me it is her agency and her vulnerability that make her a role model and a companion in life, one to who I can look to for understanding and solidarity, encouragement and inspiration. But the church, and we, have tended to limit her potency by making her perfect and therefore out of reach! As Reverend Melissa Clark says: “We make her perfect.  We make her a perpetually virginal role model that we cannot possibly live up to. We squash this complex and remarkable woman into a box, and we put her up on a pedestal, so high that she becomes unreachable. But…when Mary received yet another calling from God, and adopted her Son’s beloved friend as her own child, she adopted all of us; all of us who sit at the foot of the cross on Good Friday, all of us who share the bread and wine, all of us who metaphorically wash the feet of others or allow others to wash ours. She is our mother.  Therefore, she is very much within reach because she loves us in the same way that she loved that first adopted child.  She gathers us in to herself and prays for us and with us, with a measure of strength, love, and devotion that I am unable to fathom.”

So let us take the deeply remembered and felt story of Mary into our prayers and pray as ones called to participate, to birth, to nurture, to grow ourselves and others in the faith, to say Yes to the Christ.

Reverend Melissa Clark, “Mary, the woman who said Yes”

https://faithofourmothers.substack.com/p/mary-the-woman-who-said-yes?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share

Elizabeth A Johnson, “Dangerous Memories: A Mosaic of Mary in Scripture”, Continuum, New York, 2003

 Day Seven:

Read Matthew 1:18-25.

The genealogy of Jesus leads us to Joseph, husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born. Joseph who we know relatively little about, although what we do know comes mostly from the gospel of Matthew rather than Luke.

There are three things that I find of interest and inspiration. Firstly, that it is the genealogy of Joseph that is understood to link Abraham, King David (and all the other amazing grandfathers and grandmothers!) to Jesus and to establish his title Son of David. This was important for the claim of Messiah.

To the modern mind describing the genealogy only to then say that Joseph did not father Jesus in the biological sense doesn’t make sense! But it is an ancient text with different sensibilities and genetics was not the issue. So, while Joseph is not the biological father in the story, he is the father – the provider and protector, the nurturer and role model.

Secondly, he is described as a righteous man. We presume that he was a good man and that it was, to some extent, Mary and Joseph as a couple who were chosen for the task of parenting the Christ Child. But we might wonder if his righteousness was originally of a conventional or at the surface level?!

And I wonder this because, thirdly, Joseph was gifted with several dreams in order to know how and when to act and for me this is the mark of one who is open to discerning the Spirit and listening to the voice of the messenger of God.

Learning that Mary was pregnant Joseph intended to dismiss her quietly (not name and shame and risk her being punished!) but he did intend the conventional solution. It was a dream that told him to believe the unlikely and to take Mary as a wife and raise the child as his. And Joseph did! He then is instructed in dream to take his new little family into Egypt because of Herod; then another dream when it was time to come back; and then a fourth dream to course correct because of trouble within  .

In the Hebrew Bible in particular most of the major characters had dreams or visions and were guided by such ‘more-than-rational’ experiences. Joseph followed the guidance of the messengers of God in all the dreams. This of course reflected the story of his predecessor Joseph of the many coloured coat who was taken into Egypt and thus saved his family and people (who was also one who listened to dreams!). It also makes Joseph one who discerned the will of God and followed even when the way forward was unconventional. (Which relates to some of the grandmothers we have reflected on.) And his discernment and obedience is affirmed in the claim that ancient Scriptures are being fulfilled because of these actions. Doing what was necessary to protect the blood line of hope.

When in our lives have we listened to dreams and more-than-rational urgings and followed where they have led? And how do we discern which dreams are promptings of the Spirit and those which are wishful thinking only?

Reverend Dr Elizabeth Smith, “The Annunciation to Joseph”, in Reimaging Matthew: A Resource for Advent Year A, Wollaston Education Centre, 2013.

A classic text is John A Sanford's "Dreams: God's Forgotten Language", Harper Collins, San Francisco, 1989

 Day Eight:

Read Matthew 2:1-18

 In many ways this story is the shadow side of Christmas, the under-belly, the resistance, to new and loving ways of being human society! The news of a new king, a new regime, stirs up fear in those invested in the current way of being and doing! Now not all reactions are as violent and cruel as King Herod’s but he was not the only one afraid – all of Jerusalem was disturbed by what should have been good news!!

The coming of the light, of justice and mercy, of the hope of the ordinary, and the raising up of the downtrodden will disturb. King Herod may have been afraid of losing his position of power and privilege. The rest of the city may have been afraid of disturbing the fragile peace with Roman authorities in case things got worse?! Whatever their motivations were, it seems to be a reoccurring theme in human history – that changes towards justice and change stir up resistance! So, we might pause and ask what gets stirred up in us when the good news of a new way of doing life is announced? Do we experience fear and resistance as well as hope and excitement?

We might also note that Joseph responds to one of his dreams by taking his little family into Egypt to flee the violence to come. At one level that means later Jesus will come out of Egypt, as did Moses, pointing to his symbolic importance and the fulfilment of Scripture. It also means that Joseph and Mary needed to be strategic and cunning, just like the grandmothers we have considered, in order to protect the holy child. And it disturbingly means that whilst Jesus was protected the holy innocents were not, nor their mothers who could be heard weeping over the ages, even today in so many places!

When have we needed to be very perceptive and strategic to protect what and who was vulnerable? And when have we not been able to protect innocent ones?

Let us take all our disturbance into our prayers as we find the desire and courage to dream with God a different more just and joyous world. And if any of this story and the questions raise disturbance that is too much to bear on your own please seek the company of a wise and safe friend or counsellor.

Day Nine:

Read Matthew 5:1-12

 Many of us find the Beatitudes both comforting and confounding. Having so recently reflected on the struggle and perseverance of the grandmothers, Mary and Joseph, in bringing Jesus to bear and protecting him from the reactions of all Jerusalem, do we hear the Beatitudes differently?

And what if we read the Beatitudes beside Luke 1:46-55, the Magnificat. Although different, both express that the good news of Jesus will turn the world inside out and upside down, that those considered lowly will be lifted up, and those who think themselves mighty will be lowered!

To some extent the Beatitudes express not only what is to come and a new way of thinking and valuing human experience but looks back and honours what it took for Jesus to have a human home/body to inhabit! Considering the Beatitudes in the light of the genealogy and early childhood of Jesus, his line has already been blessed by the poor in spirit, those that mourned, the meek, those who hungered and thirsted for righteousness, those who were merciful, who were pure in heart, and peacekeepers, and those who had been persecuted! All of these qualities can be found in the grandmothers (and many of the grandfathers) and Mary and Joseph. Jesus is the fruit of these very qualities and those who found blessing in hard places! It was part of his formation as a human and an expression of the divinity that had been present to his forebears in their struggles and hardship.

Can we see this is our world? Can we recognise this in our own lives? And if not yet, can we consider this when we pray for the world and ourselves? Can we look with greater respect and hopefulness upon the parts of our lives and that of the world where there is struggle and apparent failure? For out of the mess of human struggle emerged the holy child, the fully human and divine one! And therefore, we have reason to pray and hope that goodness and beauty, compassion and wisdom, courage and tenderness might be the fruits of whatever we struggle with. May it be so. Amen.

Gracious God:

Creator of all that was before, is now and might yet be;

Birther of worlds and source from which our Lord Jesus the Christ

sprung and to whom he returned;

Spirit that weaves us all together into the oneness of you;

Hear our prayer.

Quietly notice your breath in and then out for three or more cycles. No need to change your breathing, just notice it.

Open our minds and hearts that we might make room for you and all your dreams and gifts.

Quietly notice your breath in and then out for three or more cycles. No need to change your breathing, just notice it.

Hear our prayer.

Open our hands and our homes that we might make room for you and all your beloved ones.

Quietly notice your breath in and then out for three or more cycles. No need to change your breathing, just notice it.

Hear our prayer.

Open our breath and our living that we might find you within our very life and cease to resist your love and healing.

Quietly notice your breath in and then out for three or more cycles. No need to change your breathing, just notice it.

Hear our prayer.

Open us to your dreams and gifts, your presence, your love and healing touch.

Quietly notice your breath in and then out for three or more cycles. No need to change your breathing, just notice it.

Hear our prayer.

Please feel free to stay in this receptive state longer if you wish.

Amen. May it be so.

Blessings,

Reverend Sue

This is my work informed by all I have heard, read and experienced. I am indebted to the wisdom of others. I am particularly grateful to a profound small book by Elizabeth A Johnson “Dangerous Memories: A Mosaic of Mary in Scripture” in which I first had my attention directed to the four named “grandmothers” of Jesus. I have also stumbled across other more contemporary reflections as quoted above. Please discover and enjoy the originals for yourselves.