{"id":3451,"date":"2024-12-09T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/?p=3451"},"modified":"2024-12-08T12:30:15","modified_gmt":"2024-12-08T12:30:15","slug":"making-space-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/2024\/12\/09\/making-space-2\/benedictine-spirituality\/3451\/","title":{"rendered":"Making space."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"807\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/henry-ossawa-tanner-the-annunciation-fe66b2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2016\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/henry-ossawa-tanner-the-annunciation-fe66b2.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/henry-ossawa-tanner-the-annunciation-fe66b2-300x236.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/henry-ossawa-tanner-the-annunciation-fe66b2-768x605.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Annunciation by Henry Ossawa Tanner 1896<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Today I\u2019m reflecting on the Annunciation. Luke tells the story beautifully, depicting the encounter as a moment of calm, serenity and stillness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beautiful, moving and inspiring as these portrayals are, I sometimes think that in some way they miss the mark, their beauty and serenity can make it seem like Mary\u2019s response was a foregone conclusion, the outcome already settled before the question is even posed. It\u2019s easy to see how hindsight would lead us to think that. I suspect that the reality was somewhat different. St Bernard of Clairvaux writes of the Annunciation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cThe angel is waiting for your answer, it is time for him to return to the God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady\u2026If you consent straightaway shall we be saved\u2026by one little word of yours in answer shall we all be made alive.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His words convey a sense of uncertainty and waiting make the whole encounter seem more realistic. Henry Ossawa Tanner\u2019s \u201cAnnunciation\u201d portrays this sense for me. It encompasses both the divine and the human as Mary\u2019s room, slightly messy with unmade bed and rumpled rug, is illuminated by the Gabriel\u2019s light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The look on Mary\u2019s face has such a questioning, uncertain quality that it\u2019s very clear that she struggling to make sense of this strange occurrence I can almost hear the <em>\u201cbut how can this be?\u2026\u201d<\/em> echoing through her mind as she tries to make sense of the strange occurrence. When Mary\u2019s answer came it was the result of a completely free choice so she could respond with her whole heart:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u2018Let what you have said be done to me.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We too are called to welcome the Word into the depths of our hearts, discovering God\u2019s will for us and allowing it to shape our lives. Like Mary, we are free to accept or reject that invitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Where do you find space for God\u2019s Word in your heart this Advent?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today I\u2019m reflecting on the Annunciation. Luke tells the story beautifully, depicting the encounter as a moment of calm, serenity and stillness. Beautiful, moving and inspiring as these portrayals are, I sometimes think that in some way they miss the mark, their beauty and serenity can make it seem like Mary\u2019s response was a foregone [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[274,222,494,461,239,271,537,264,246],"tags":[292,92,28,18,237,20,6,8,457,33,229,13,29,15,10,291,275],"class_list":["post-3451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advent","category-benedictine-spirituality","category-christ","category-divine-office","category-gospel","category-lectio-divina","category-liturgy","category-monastic-life","category-scripture","tag-angelgabriel","tag-annunciation","tag-benedictine","tag-challenge","tag-choice","tag-freedom","tag-gospel","tag-hope","tag-immaculateconception","tag-kingdom","tag-kingdomvalues","tag-lectiodivina","tag-love","tag-newlife","tag-trust","tag-virginmary","tag-waiting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3451"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3456,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3451\/revisions\/3456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}