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Catholic Schools Office

Friday, December 13, 2024Culture

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The story of the Annunciation allows us to witness Mary's response to her invitation to "work the redemption" with the Blessed Trinity. In the ordinary experiences of our own lives, we are invited to do the same.

Eileen
McLaughlin

Advent has begun for school children in our archdiocesan community of faith. Most likely, they'll be wearing down their purple, pink, and green crayons as they color an Advent wreath and learn that the evergreens represent the everlasting life found in Christ, each candle represents one week, and each week represents a different theme -- hope, peace, joy, and love. Our students learn about Advent as a means of appreciating the Incarnation -- Christ's presence in our world.
Nearly 25 years ago, the Advent season took on new weight for me when I lived the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, directed by Mary Ann McLaughlin and Father John Sassani of the Archdiocesan Office of Spiritual Life. The 19th Annotation of this retreat experience takes place over the course of 26 weeks and is a series of guided exercises and practices that help spiritually prepare a person for Christian service. I was a new teacher at the time, beginning my professional career as a Catholic school teacher at St. Ann School in Somerville. The exercises introduced me to St. Ignatius' Principle in Foundation, an awareness that everyone has been created for union with God, that we are given all the gifts we need to achieve that union and that among those gifts is the freedom to choose to use the gifts as intended -- or not.

Early in the 26 weeks, the participants in the exercises -- St. Ignatius calls them exercitants -- experience a meditation on the Incarnation put forth by St. Ignatius. In this meditation, St. Ignatius calls us to imagine the Holy Trinity looking down on the world that was created, a creation born of God's love. What the Trinity sees is that while there is good, there is evil as well. Where there is healing, there is also hurt. The Holy Trinity hears words of blessing and blasphemy. Creation is not what the Holy Trinity created it to be. Ignatius' meditation imagines that the Holy Trinity's response is not one of anger or disappointment, but rather "Let us work the redemption." From that moment, the exercitants move toward the incarnation.
St. Ignatius' meditation allows me to understand the purpose of Christ's presence in my life and in the lives of others, to work with the Trinity for redemption. This Ignatian meditation is followed closely by a period of prayer with the Annunciation. Recently, I had the good fortune to reflect on the Annunciation with archdiocesan school leaders in a morning of prayer and with two separate Catholic school faculties, St. John the Evangelist School in Canton and St. John School in Wellesley in faculty retreats. I have always felt that it was a blessing to be invited to join with a Catholic school faculty for an experience of prayer and faith sharing. It affords me the opportunity to speak to my own faith formation and to invite teachers and leaders to reflect on and speak to theirs. Furthermore, it invites me to ask them to consider how they, as faith leaders in their classrooms, are providing opportunities for the faith formation of their students. The story of the Annunciation allows us to witness Mary's response to her invitation to "work the redemption" with the Blessed Trinity. In the ordinary experiences of our own lives, we are invited to do the same.
In this season of reflection and hopeful anticipation, I ask you to consider how it is that you've been invited to partner with Christ in the Trinity's work of redemption.

- Eileen McLaughlin is superintendent of Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Boston.