Fran Ferder is a Franciscan sister, a clinical psychologist, university professor, and author. Since 1985, she has been co-director of Therapy and Renewal Associates in the Pacific Northwest.
The stories and parables in the Gospels are our stories. They are relevant to the choices we make and the things that we do. What are they about? They are about us. In his sacred stories, Jesus set out to put his listeners into the picture. But many of them were unable to do so. Those in the habit of literalism didn't get the parables then, and it's fair to say, they don't get them today.
Are you able to see Mary's virginity the way Elizabeth Johnson sees it as "an attitude of being open and available to divine mystery, to the voice and power of the spirit in us?" Have you found favor with God? — that is one of the questions that comes out of a spiritual reading of the Annunciation. Feder carries it one step further by speaking of everyday annunciations as taking place wherever we are called to bring into being peace, justice, and equality.
During Christmas when we hear the story of the Nativity we should be able to see that it is an ongoing process with us and the communities that honor the birth of grace, truth, and light. When we read the story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness, we remember that at one time or another, we have faced down our own demons.
Jesus' words to his disciples are a fitting mantra for the Christian path: "Stay awake!" The resurrection occurs each time we put ourselves on the line for someone else because there both dying and rising can take place.
We are grateful for the wonderful job Feder has done in bringing these stories to fresh life in us — and hopefully in you!
