Daughters of St. Paul

An Afternoon Reflection

Sr. Margaret Charles
from the Pauline Books and Media Center in Charleston, South Carolina

"Good news! Joy to all the world!" This was the song that the angels sang at the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, the Word made flesh, God dwelling among us. This afternoon these words came to mind as I looked out of our large display windows on to King Street, a busy street in the tourist area of Charleston. It may be three months past Christmas in the middle of the Lenten Season, but the words that first announced Jesus’ living among us remain the truest kernel of our hope. I feel joyful, realizing that our Pauline Books and Media Center is established side by side with Banana Republic, Starbucks, and Gap Kids. Here on one of America’s well-traveled roads is God’s Word—God’s door—welcoming everyone. As patrons enter our Center I think of the joy they share in discovering God in the marketplace of their life. "Good news! Today is born our Savior who is Christ the Lord." This is the message that we are called to announce today to those who walk down King Street.

John Paul II, referring to the Gospel story of Peter putting down his nets at the word of Jesus, encourages us to find the tremendous joy of the Gospel message. The net cast by Peter, he says, paradoxically both "catches" and "frees." "Trusting in the efficacy of Christ’s word, the Church lets down her net in the great ocean of the new millennium that has just begun," the Pope said. "It is a singular net: Whoever is caught, is freed!" This freedom is good news.

Christian joy is modeled on the "Magnificat" of Mary who said to her cousin Elizabeth, "My soul rejoices in the Lord my Savior." This joy is not a superficial feeling that covers over pain and difficulty, says Francis Cardinal George of Chicago. Instead, this Christian joy modeled by Mary and revealed in the Gospel, is a joy that, freed from past and future schemes, lives in the present. "The present is the time and place where God dwells. Joy can never be only the result of our personal efforts. It is given to us as it was given to Mary, a free gift."

Sr Margaret Charles, FSP
National Association of Pauline Cooperators
243 King Street
Charleston, South Carolina 29401
cooperators@pauline.org
The National Association of Pauline Cooperators is an association of the Lay Faithful who share in the charism, spirituality and mission of the Pauline Family.

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