Praying with Jesus in the Womb

Abstract

Text from the first five paragraphs of "Praying with Jesus in the Womb"|We know his life on this earth began in the womb, at the moment of his conception. And, so we know that the first part of his journey among us - the first part of the Word of God taking flesh and dwelling among us - was nine months in his mother's womb. But, we rarely reflect on this part of the presence of "God with us." This exercise of our imagination for an Ignatian Contemplation with Jesus during that immersion into our life's journey is aided (except for a professional image of a developing embryo) by ultrasound images of a 5 month old child in the womb, just 10 inches long. This child will help us spend some time letting this profound reality touch our hearts and celebrate Jesus' entry into our world and to welcome Jesus into our hearts now.|From the moment that - "by the power of the Holy Spirit" - the life of Jesus began in Mary's womb, Jesus became one with us. He didn't magically appear as an adult. He began his life journey as a tiny, bundle of cells. We can imagine those cells multiplying so quickly, day by day and week by week - silently, imperceptibly. But, this human life was already "God, made one of us." No one could imagine God could be human. And, now we can imagine our God coming among us in this developing, new life - so small, so dependent, so powerless. We can feel the gratitude welling up within us as we contemplate the unseen journey of Jesus being "knit" in his mother's womb (Psalm 139).|Though Son of God, he is becoming Son of Mary. We can imagine that already, in this very fine development, he is taking on her flesh, her cells, her shape, her looks, her heart. It is so slow, and yet, so planned. It is a journey which none of us can remember, but which every one of us took, to become who we are. And, now we contemplate that profound solidarity with us which our Savior began - even in the womb, for us. Already, this sense we have of his entry into our experience helps us remember that he shared our human journey and we never need to feel alone, on any part of our journey. He became one of us by taking on the very way we enter this world. This transition to a life born into this world, and the continuing journey of a child, a young person, and finally as an adult, is one Jesus made, for us. And, in these moments, as we contemplate this mystery and its meaning for us, we grow in gratitude for that first coming and we grow in our longing for our relationship with Jesus to develop in intimacy and love.|Our praying is helped by our imagination. In this case, we are imagining something we know happened, but for which we have not usually had a visual image. We begin by naming our desire here. We ask to be blessed with the gift of hope. We long to be renewed in a sense of God's love for us in Jesus - by this coming here and now, where we need him the most. The promises which were fulfilled in this new life stir our hearts to have faith in those promises in the most challenging times of our journey today. This imaginative prayer allows us to pray more deeply, "Come, Lord Jesus. We await your coming. Come, O Lord."|In this contemplation, we want to slow down our reflection and enter into the details and to acknowledge the silence, the slow growth, the precious reality of our Lord and Savior's taking on life as a human being. If we begin by imagining Jesus' foot in the womb, we can begin to savor, with wonder and awe the reality of this gift. We can picture Mary washing this little foot, right after giving birth to Jesus and laying him in the manger, unconcerned about the lowliness of that place. We can imagine that this tiny foot became the foot which walked our earth. With this foot, he learned to walk. Perhaps this foot was sandaled most of his life. Perhaps this foot was stubbed on the carpenter's bench in Joseph's workshop. This is the foot which left home and headed to the Jordan to be baptized by John. Of course, the sinful woman taught us about gratitude for his mercy by kissing and crying on this foot, and drying it with her hair. This foot stumbled along the way to his Crucifixion, where this foot was nailed to a cross - all for us..