Friday of the Fourth Week of Advent

Readings of the Day 

"The Lord comes that we might find him in this world of ours." Laudato Si' #236

Today we hear the first words from Zachariah after nine months of muted silence. I can’t help but chuckle a little at the thought of a father-to-be being silenced throughout the pregnancy, almost as if to say, “It’s not about you!” And, as we know, this story is not about Zachariah the priest. This story centers God’s compassion, mercy, justice, and love.

Zachariah’s forced silence not only de-centers him in the story, but it also provides space for other voices to be centered. Earlier in Luke we hear from pregnant Elizabeth and Mary who together share powerful words about the possible-ness of God’s inbreaking kingdom of justice, freedom, and peace. The center of God’s story, and ours, is love incarnate – born of the womb of a young woman on the margins of the Roman Empire.

Across this country, Catholic Charities provides space and services that respond to the God-of-the-margins, centering those experiencing poverty, those ignored by the societal systems that perpetuate injustice, the people perhaps closest to God-incarnate.

In my work and ministry, how do I shut up and center God’s love? How am I centering the experiences of those on the margins of our society? How can I better listen, learn, prepare, wait, and make space for the prophetic voices and experiences of my neighbors?

Just as Zachariah had the silence of muteness to accept God’s loving plan, may this Advent and continued season of Christmas be a time in which I might watch, listen, and help birth God’s loving plan.

Kelly Hickman serves as the Database Manager at Catholic Climate Covenant and as the Marketing and Communications Coordinator at the Ignatian Spirituality Center. She is active in several parishes in the Archdiocese of Seattle, serving as co-leader of the Seattle Chapter for Catholic Relief Services (the international sister agency of CCUSA) and as Spiritual Advisor to her St. Vincent de Paul Conference.

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