The Presence of Another... wonder regarding Advent, Maternity, and the Eucharist

Inspired by the Christmas cards I bought this year, my weekly column at Patheos discusses the mysteries of life in the womb, the incarnation of Christ, and the dynamism of the Real Presence of the Eucharist.  Here's an excerpt:

Mothers come to know their biological children in a way that defies proper explanation. This heartbeat and these first stirrings are an advent of that first encounter face to face.

And mothers expectantly await the meeting of this tiny one they know somewhat dimly, and yet intimately.

Presence. Heartbeat. Blood. Life. Relationship.

These are not just the proximities of maternity; they are the stuff of the once-invisible and inexpressible God entering our humanity and cleaving to us in ways unimaginable yet tangible. They hail Immanuel, “God-with-us”, (Is 7: 14, Mt 1: 23.)

And Mary gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths,                            and laid him in a manger… (Lk 2: 7.)

What started with Mary’s maternity has ramifications for all of us.

Mary’s precious womb contained the Body of Christ.

Two millennia later, Christians still recognize the Eucharist as becoming the true Body and Blood of Jesus. (Jn 6:53-56)

Eucharist is the sublime privilege of receiving Jesus inside our very selves bodily. 

Read the rest over here.

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