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| The desert in bloom |
While listening to the Gospel (Lk 1:5-25) and also the first
reading at Mass today (Judges 13:2-7,24-25), I do not think it is easy to not
be moved by the plight of both women, whom people called “barren”. It was a
terrible label for any woman. Fertility, the ability to bring forth life, has
been the essence of marriage in almost every society (excepting our own in the
modern west) and the inability to have children is a terrible burden for any
married couple. And this burden perhaps falls most heavily upon women who are
constantly reminded through their menstrual cycle of their capacity to nurture
life within their bodies. Women are created with the gift of being tabernacles
of new human life. (Incidentally this is why in Catholic churches women
traditionally wear veils. All holy tabernacles are veiled in a Catholic Church:
the tabernacle behind the altar, the chalice, statues of Our Lady and thus also
all God’s daughters.)
Infertility was seen in their time as a sign of God’s
disfavour, but Elizabeth and Monoah’s wife, we hear about in Mass today, are
not the only childless women in salvation history who are made fertile by God’s
intervention. There was Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Hannah. Thus John’s birth
falls in line with that of Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Samson, and Samuel, all of
whom were representatives of the Covenant between God and Israel.
And John was to be a Nazarite from birth. The practical consequences
of this were that being consecrated he could not drink alcohol nor have his
hair cut. In many ways Nazarites were like Old Testament monks and nuns.
Nazarites could take lifelong or temporary consecration. John was to be a
Nazarite from birth and for his whole life. Nazarites could also be priests or
members of the laity.
The conception of John in a womb called “barren” also
symbolised his vocation as a desert prophet. For from the barren wilderness
would come forth a prophet proclaiming a message to prepare for the coming of
He who is the Life. Indeed the desert would blossom and bring forth truth,
beauty and goodness.
There is barrenness in all our lives. There are aspects of
all our lives I expect that are not bearing fruit, what should we do about them?
Like those courageous women of faith in salvation history we need to bring our
barrenness to God with all the faith we can muster and ask the Lord to make our
lives fruitful according to His Will. Perhaps we do not see how they can be
made fertile but God does not see things as we do!
Fr Ian
