Mtr Mary Trainor

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.  Matthew 24:13

Dear friend,

Christmas is coming. Excitement builds as children of all ages anticipate what this special day brings.

For Christians, once again we await the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. It is a day that ushered light into a darkened world, that introduced Love as the Way, and Hope as the foundation of all belief.

Each baby’s birth is a gift that changes the lives of his or her parents forever. But the birth of that one particular baby in a manger all those years ago was a gift that changed everyone’s lives. Forever.

For many, including Christians, another type of excitement builds as we approach Christmas. This one more secular. Until all the pretty packages are laid bare, our focus at this time may seem to be on the boxes and the mysteries they conceal. Come Christmas morning the gifts are opened, the mystery revealed.

There is something in the human person that at once loves a mystery and yet absolutely cannot rest until the mystery is solved. But unlike Christmas gifts that we can open at will, we cannot exercise power over all mystery.

Mystery is at the very root of life with God. Faith is grounded in mystery, faith in God who I cannot see, yet whose presence I feel; God, who does not offer signs on demand, yet whose love comforts me with special Peace in those times of my life that only God and I have traveled together.

I do not always enjoy mystery. Occasionally I would appreciate some specific answers that only God can provide. I suspect I am not alone in this. Answers to questions about death and heaven and when and how? Answers about suffering and cruelty and starvation and the death of children.

In this way, we’re not so very different from the first disciples, who approach Jesus on the Mount of Olives with this question: “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:1-14)

Jesus provides a litany of horrors that lead to the end of time. While he seems to give answers, there is no real clarity. He offers no dates, no names, no locations. How do we get ready when the clues are so non-specific? How do we prepare?

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

I find something hopeful, something healing in Jesus’ offer of the word endure. It speaks to me of holding steady against the tide, feet firmly planted, unmoved, unmovable. Outwaiting the uncomfortable, the difficult, the frightening. Rooted in God. Standing tall in faith. And if not to the end of all time, at least to the end of my time.

Any gift we receive this Christmas cannot compare to the gift—swaddled in mystery—that we received on that first Christmas so many years ago. With this baby came the means of endurance.

Mtr. Mary