Pondering Sacraments Anew

Catholic and Orthodox Christians honor the birth of Our Lady on the eighth day of September. For those unfamiliar with the term, Our Lady, you may know her as Maryam, mother of Yeshua. Since neither the Gregorian nor Julian calendar existed in her lifetime there was no month of September. Designating a date invites us to ponder her birth to Anne and Joachim, the humanity of this infant girl and her esteemed place in God’s narrative.

Approaching the date, I find myself pondering her, her lived experiences, and the influence of her profound relationship with The Divine One on her life. For months, I have also been considering the lived experiences of women throughout history, and the systemic injustices we continue to experience today in the Catholic Church, in Christianity, in the United States and across the globe. Without childbearers and midwives, humanity ceases to exist. It all speaks to our presence, bidden or not, in the tapestry of creation and our often unacknowledged efforts to respond to the genuine within us. As a Catholic Christian, I speak only to my faith tradition.

Years ago I read Anita Diamant’s novel “The Red Tent.” One of the supporting comments described it as allowing us to imagine how the Bible would be if it had been written by women. Reading those words took me aback. The idea was refreshing, compelling and life giving. Diamant planted the liberating seeds for women to move deeper into the practice of imaginative prayer. Yes, women have always been involved in this journey. Although inspired by God, the tone of Scripture would be different had women been the writers.

The Catholic and Orthodox Churches specifically identify seven official Sacraments. Often capitalized in the West, they are Baptism, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Confirmation, Marriage, Anointing of the Sick and Ordination. Yet, what Sacraments have we not considered that occur in our lives beyond the walls of the church. Certainly, we do not claim to limit the capacity of God’s anointing grace, the Resurrected Christ’s love, or the Holy Spirit’s breath.

While I have never experienced pregnancy or childbirth, it does seem obvious to me that childbirth is a Sacrament. While each delivery is unique and includes some sort of trauma for the woman and the infant, are there not awe and grace in this experience? They have journeyed together for nine months and now they are face to face. Those who attempt to describe their experience of witnessing the miracle of childbirth are often limited by language. How could bringing a new life into this world not be sacramental?

In a similar vein, is not the experience of adopting a child into one’s life, home and family not sacramental? Freely choosing to commit your heart to embracing and enfolding this child with love is indeed a Sacrament. After initiating the process, the waiting for and uncertainty of receiving the call often far exceed those of childbirth. There are also times when unexpected circumstances evolve so that one is compelled or inspired to adopt a known child or possibly known siblings. Whether previously known or unknown, the expansive heart reveals and affirms how familial love can transcend genetics. That is certainly sacramental.

Another idea is stirring within me following a conversation with a dear friend. What about her and the many women across the globe who respond to the genuine within themselves and commit to delivering Christ as a vowed religious. Practicing vows of chastity, obedience and poverty, they seek to abandon empire and be a new creation in Christ in and for this broken world. Through their presence they have the capacity to witness the human condition while offering their lives as Sacrament.

Of the three possible Sacraments identified, like life, not one of them is easy or simple. We are even challenged by living out our baptismal promises. Evenso, each possibility models the profound and abundant grace of sacramentality in distinctive ways. They remind us of God’s abiding presence in and throughout the human experience.

What other experiences might we consider as sacramental? Let me know what you think.