The news the last several days has been filled with reports of Jamie Lynn Spears, the 16 year old sister of Brittany Spears. Jamie Lynn has been the popular star of the successful television series "Zoey 101" on the Nickelodeon network. In this show, she plays a perfect, well-liked, virginal teenager and, according to the New York Times, the show has attracted a large audience among the youth of our country as the show won wide acclaim as a sanctuary from the hypersexualized culture of our youth.Now, however, this 16 year old has become pregnant, once again demonstrating the pressures and temptations thrust upon the students in our communities.
The irony is that this holy season, we announce and celebrate the birth of one who came to redeem not only our lives but also the world itself. Jesus was born to reveal God's love to us and to call us to accept that love and live in it. A new way of living and a new set of values are the gifts God offers us in the birth of Jesus on Christmas morning. And, Jesus was born to a teenage mother, who found herself pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
Mary faced the pressures and challenges of her day and we can in no way underestimate the precarious predicament that confronted her. Her family could have abandoned her, unwilling to face the shame of a daughter not yet married who was with child. Joseph, her fiance, could likewise have cruelly and publicly discarded her. All the villagers in the tiny hamlet of Nazerth could have been vindictive in their judgement and criticism. Yet, Mary was faithful to God's holy plan and became the obedient servant of God despite the risk and cost.
As I ponder the irony of God coming to earth in a teenage virgin in light of the today's headlines, I realize that God chose to come in such a humble and unpredictable manner so that we could only respond in faith and belief according to God's terms. God appeared in a way radically different than humanity could expect or manipulate. The unassuming advent of God in a manger in Bethlehem to poor peasants, witnessed by shepherds requires and demands our trust in God, not in any preconceived notions about God that we have developed nor in our own intellect, achievements or abilities.
This Christmas, may you be open to the mystery of God and the surprising way God greets you. When you respond with trust, like Mary, God will bless you and God will direct your path. May our world see that there is truly a better way to live than the values of Hollywood or the seduction of popular celebrity status.
The irony is that this holy season, we announce and celebrate the birth of one who came to redeem not only our lives but also the world itself. Jesus was born to reveal God's love to us and to call us to accept that love and live in it. A new way of living and a new set of values are the gifts God offers us in the birth of Jesus on Christmas morning. And, Jesus was born to a teenage mother, who found herself pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
Mary faced the pressures and challenges of her day and we can in no way underestimate the precarious predicament that confronted her. Her family could have abandoned her, unwilling to face the shame of a daughter not yet married who was with child. Joseph, her fiance, could likewise have cruelly and publicly discarded her. All the villagers in the tiny hamlet of Nazerth could have been vindictive in their judgement and criticism. Yet, Mary was faithful to God's holy plan and became the obedient servant of God despite the risk and cost.
As I ponder the irony of God coming to earth in a teenage virgin in light of the today's headlines, I realize that God chose to come in such a humble and unpredictable manner so that we could only respond in faith and belief according to God's terms. God appeared in a way radically different than humanity could expect or manipulate. The unassuming advent of God in a manger in Bethlehem to poor peasants, witnessed by shepherds requires and demands our trust in God, not in any preconceived notions about God that we have developed nor in our own intellect, achievements or abilities.
This Christmas, may you be open to the mystery of God and the surprising way God greets you. When you respond with trust, like Mary, God will bless you and God will direct your path. May our world see that there is truly a better way to live than the values of Hollywood or the seduction of popular celebrity status.
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