🎄 Merry Christmas!

In gratitude for the privileged closeness He gives to me

One of my favourite images for Christmas, done by Canadian artist William Kurelek for Madonna House. “The donkey that carried Our Lady to Bethlehem carried the Word.” (Catherine Doherty)

Wherever this finds you, I hope that you are having a beautiful Christmas and spending time with those you love!

After what was a relatively short Advent, Christmas has now arrived and Jesus is born among us again. For me, it always feels like breathing a sigh of relief: We’ve been waiting in anticipation for the coming of Jesus, and now He is here. He truly is Emmanuel—God With Us.

I call the week between Christmas and New Years “Nostalgia Week” because the last week of the year always makes me reflect on the year that I just lived. January simultaneously feels like forever ago and also like just yesterday. Many details blur together in my head, and when I think about some events that have happened, I am surprised at how much God was able to fit into a year… and yet, He did.

I spent the majority of 2022 living a very different life from how I live now. 2/3 of it was spent as a postulant, living in a community of religious sisters and other young women in formation, in an entirely different country.

In what seemed to me to be a great plot twist, God invited me to follow Him back home to Vancouver, no longer living as a postulant and no longer discerning a life as a religious sister. These last few months have been formation of a different kind, almost as intense as my time in the convent. It’s been beautiful and challenging all at once.

But I think that is what life is really all about sometimes: Embracing it as it comes, integrating previous experiences, and taking stock of everything. Many times it’s not until we are in a big change that we evaluate where we’ve been and where we hope to go next.

I take comfort in the fact that some two thousand years ago, the Holy Family also experienced an incredible amount of uncertainty. From the moment that Mary conceived Jesus in her womb, to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, to the flight into Egypt to escape Herod, there was so much movement and uncertainty. Mary and Joseph had no idea what to expect, but still exhibited radical surrender to God. They had a privileged closeness to Jesus in a very profound way. And through the Incarnation, Jesus enables each of us to experience a different kind of privileged closeness to Him right here and now.

So even in the midst of uncertainty, one thing is certain: Jesus is with me. And in confusion, frustration, pain and challenge, He also has experienced it all and wants to journey in it with me.

I’m not sure what to expect next year, but I do have a lot of hope for what’s ahead. I’m reminded here of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans: “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Romans 8:31).

Here’s to another year of continued blessings, growth, good health, and entrusting ourselves ever more to the One who loves us first!

Thank you also for continuing to read The Divine Appointment. It has been beautiful to have this outlet to reflect and share, and also receive your feedback. I’m so grateful that you’ve taken the time to receive and read these reflections, and I’ll be back in the new year with more!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

In Jesus Master,
Rachel