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Thursday of the Third Week of Advent

Readings of the Day 
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Today's readings share a similar story of women unable to
conceive.  In biblical times, the inability to conceive a child
would have been a source of shame for married women.  But as we
see in both stories, God intervenes to remove the shame that these
women feel.  On the surface, we might read this as a story of God
answering a prayer by providing each woman with what she
desires.  But I would suggest there is something deeper happening
here.

Dr. Brené Brown, a research professor of social work at the
University of Houston, defines shame as "the intensely painful
feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore
unworthy of love and belonging."  Understood in this way,
God's response in these stories is to restore the dignity of the
women, to show them that they are loved.

At Catholic Charities, we regularly encounter people who are overcome
with shame and doubt their own goodness.  This could be as a
result of past decisions they have made or because of things outside
their control.  Regardless of the reason, they feel they are
unworthy of being loved or that they deserve the bad things that have
happened to them.  While we may not be able to change the
circumstances that produced these feelings of shame, we do have the
opportunity to remind each person we meet of their dignity that comes
from being loved by God. 

When we help another person discover how much they are loved, we
participate with God in the work of redemption.  What a privilege
this is! May we never take for granted our ability to impact another
person's life.

Peter Weiss is the Living Justice Advocate with Catholic Charities of
the Diocese of Green Bay.  Peter's role is to promote
justice and Catholic Social Teaching throughout the Diocese of Green
Bay.




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