Lesson in Contrasts: A Reflection by our Sister Postulant
As part of our Christmas preparations, our community holds a Joyous Chapter on December 23rd. Included in the Chapter is the reading of one of the Christmas Gospels and a reflection is given by the youngest member of the community. This year’s reflection was given by our postulant sister and we joyfully share it with you.
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Just last week during our Free Day, the novitiate had a mini art lesson with Sister Marie Dominic. One of the things I learned was that in a piece of art, your eyes will automatically focus on the area where the colors contrast the most. So for example in this piece of art, our eyes will eventually focus here, on Mary’s crown, because it is the area where the colors greatly contrast.
What does this have to do with our Gospel reading tonight? I ask you to please stay with me.
Jesus is our God, our King, our Savior, but at his birth, he was laid in a manger, a feeding trough for animals. A king born not in a palace nor in a hospital with doctors, but in a stable with animals. How great is the contrast in that scenario? But, if we remember our art lesson, the focal point of a piece of art is the area where the colors contrast the most. Perhaps in the deeply contrasting situation of Jesus’s birth, God is inviting us to see, to take a deeper look.
To see that amidst the Poverty of Jesus’s birth, He is proclaiming that He is our True Richness.
To see that amidst the Humility of Jesus’s birth, He is proclaiming that He is our True Power.
To see that amidst the Silence of Jesus’s birth, He is proclaiming that He is our True Glory.
To see that amidst the Solitude of Jesus’s birth, He is proclaiming that He is our True Intimacy.
To see that amidst the Vulnerability of Jesus’s birth, He is proclaiming that He is our True Strength.
To see that amidst the Darkness of Jesus’s birth, He is proclaiming that He is our True Light.
To see that amidst the Rejection at the Inn, He is proclaiming that He is our True Savior.
This made me reflect further on the contrasts of this monastic way of life, which I have been blessed to live for the past four months, thanks to the generosity of the community. Life is meaningful in the monastery precisely because of these contrasts.
Amidst the silence of the monastery, there is, in truth, a myriad of activities going on, all of which aim to serve and give glory to God. This myriad of activities, in turn foster the silence of our hearts, leading us to a more intimate union with God.
Amidst the solitude of the life, deeper bonds are actually formed within the community, allowing us to love and forgive one another even with minimal contact and with less words being spoken out loud. In turn, to nourish these bonds, a deeper solitude is yearned for, in order for us to learn how to love our neighbor even more.
Amidst the emptiness of the life - the emptiness of being away from our dearest loved ones, the emptiness of not having some physical comforts, the emptiness of surrendering our wills, time and preferences even in the littlest situations - these all contribute to making the life fuller, fuller in the awareness of God’s deep love for us. A moment with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament makes us forget the host of things we have had to give up. And in experiencing the fullness of God’s love for us, it moves us to empty ourselves even more of those little things which in the grander scale are unimportant, to make more room in our hearts for God.
Two years ago, I was in [our two current aspirants’] position - I was an aspirant in this monastery during the Christmas Season. I distinctly remember that after that year’s Joyous Chapter, I hurriedly went up to the novitiate library. Externally I was scanning the books on the shelves, but internally I was deeply distressed, asking God, “Lord, are you really calling me to this life? Because I really don’t want to do a sermon in front of the community when I enter.” And yet by the grace of God, here I am two years later, almost done with what distressed me so much back then. In keeping with the theme of contrasts in this reflection, kindly allow me to share that what distressed me so much back then has actually given me much peace right now, the peace of doing the will of God, no matter how distressing a situation may be.
“What distressed me so much back then has actually given me much peace right now, the peace of doing the will of God, no matter how distressing a situation may be.”
Mary must have felt the deepest joy and peace as she gave birth to Jesus, even though she had to travel while pregnant and give birth in the most uncomfortable of situations. Mary’s full-hearted “yes” to God has given us the greatest contrast our world needs, the contrast of Jesus. In reflecting on the birth of Jesus, let us remember our art lesson: that the area where the colors contrast the most is the focal point of that piece of art. Perhaps what God wants to tell us is that amidst the poverty, humility, solitude, silence, vulnerability, darkness and rejection of our lives, we need only to keep our eyes and hearts on Jesus, our God, our King, our Savior.