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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 has been
the Living Justice Advocate with Catholic Charities of the Diocese of
Green Bay
in 2017.  Peter's role is to promote
justice and Catholic Social Teaching throughout the Diocese of Green
Bay.

 

 




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