My entire text, spent hours on, it self-deleted. Eek!
In today’s gospel Mary was in the middle of an Angel and Joseph.
I will reduce then to a few simple paragraphs.
Jesus spent his entire life retraining us to orient our thinking to the needs of the other, specifically, the one in the middle. Being in the middle you are surrounded by spectators and accusers by way of the Law. But, Jesus, taught us to see the central need of the person in the middle. Then he provided what they needed and set them free.
Be a Messiah. Reject the culture of death shrouded in Pro-life and Pro-choice debates. See the woman. Help the woman. And you are more than likely to save the child. I used these examples: Lot, Joseph, Job, Susanna, Elizabeth, Mary, Woman in Adultery, and the Paralytic. I used stories from the Shoah (self-preservation and nulling sex abuse stigmatism).
Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry
P.S. Don’t use draft mode.