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“Rejoice, you
barren one who bore no children; break forth and shout,
you who were not in labor; for more numerous are the children
of the deserted one than of her who has a husband.”
Galatians 4.27
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Open Letter
to a Nun
Rejoice
... Spouse of the Lamb
and Daughter of
the Most High God!
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“Raise a
glad cry, you barren one who did not bear, break forth
in jubilant song, you who were not in labor, For more
numerous are the children of the deserted wife than the
children of her who has a husband, says the LORD.”
Isaiah
54.1
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There
are mothers of many who are mothers to none – and there are
mothers of none who are mothers to many.
How your children abound! Count them if you can, daughter of the
promise of Abraham!
You are the face of Mary in the desert of this world.
How many ... how many say ... that except for you ... they had no
one.
Arms that never close, heart that never sleeps, love that is never
emptied ... you are such a Sign to the world, O, Daughter of God!
Your robe and veil announce to Whom you belong, and you do not demur
from it – how clearly they enunciate that you have spurned the world,
its false lovers, its empty promises ... and have embraced your
Spouse Jesus Christ. In you we find Him! Bring us to Him!
Do you know how desperately we need you? ... how ill we are in this
world?
We
come to you as one. We come to you as
many. One or many, we come as your children
through your espousal to Christ Jesus. We know that you are our
mother, our sister, our daughter – all that we have lost in the
world, and long for with a longing unto tears.
In your humble robe and beautiful veil you do not conceal,
no ... you uncover the Heart of Christ, the face of Mary,
to a world that has lost all acquaintance with sanctity, all memory
of the sacred. we have even lost ourselves!
Throw off your veil, discard your robe, and you, too, uncover your
nakedness to the world, which has disrobed itself before our eyes
a thousand times! ... Do not do this!
We do not long for Mary as Corporate CEO clothed with
the world, as the world, hiding in shame
the emblem of her espousal to God and God alone. This is the world
which we already know, the world of designer suits and cold corporate
words that have used us, drained us, exploited us ... and discarded
us.
It is to the promise of a better world, the testimony to things
real, sacred, and eternal, it is to this, in this, that we come
to you.
We
are the world's orphans ... count us, if you can ... are we not
numberless?
You do not understand how in your hiddenness you are the most conspicuous
sign to the world! ... the Sign of the Cross, the reality of Christ,
the sign of hope, the sign of things that really matter ... that
we had all forgotten – but you did not.
Rejoice, Daughter of the Most High God. He has given you as an inheritance,
the orphans of the world.
Bring
them to your Spouse ... for it is He Who brought them to you ...
Rejoice! For you are the mother of countless children, O spouse
of God and Daughter of the King!
Geoffrey
K. Mondello
for the Boston Catholic Journal
Printable PDF Version
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