A Woman’s Womb

Showing a little mercy to our brothers and sisters

01/05/2019

John 1:43-51 Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth." But Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him." Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree." Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this." And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God  ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Last night I had a delightful discussion with Dc. Dan Hennessey, an old friend from Little Rock. He was preparing a retreat for the deacon class on the topic of mercy and called me because I have written a whole book on the subject, and clearly I am now the world’s expert on the subject. Honestly, I don’t think I said much that was useful to him, but he shared an insight that totally blew my mind about mercy. Let me share that golden nugget of good news with you.

Dc. Dan said the Hebrew word for mercy, “rachamim,” is also the word used for a woman’s womb. That connection between mercy and womb makes perfect sense because the first and finest place every person should feel mercy, compassion and unconditional love is in his or her own mother’s womb. This is another reason why abortion is such an abhorrent crime: it not only violates the law of love between mother and child, but even the law of language between woman and womb. Even in English we see how the motherly instinct of mercy is conveyed in the similarity between the words “woman” and “womb” which both begin with “wom…” Maybe the reason some men struggle to show mercy is because we don’t have a womb. Every woman with a womb is called, therefore, to be an icon of mercy, rachamim.

This insight about mercy and womb may shed some light on the deep connection between the two readings from the first letter of St. John and the gospel of St. John. In his first letter, the beloved disciple John explains why the first fratricide (killing one’s brother) was so evil. Both Cain and Abel shared the same womb of their mother, Eve, and should have shown compassion for one another. No one has a greater claim on your compassion, your rachamim, than the one with whom you shared the same womb and suckled at the same breasts. But sadly sometimes only the opposite is true because, like the old saying, “no one fights like family.” Therefore, Cain’s crime not only violated the law of love between brothers, but also the law of language between mother and mercy.

In the gospel, John takes this connection between mercy and womb to the spiritual and sacramental level. Nathaniel’s first reaction to Jesus coming from Nazareth is rejection and ridicule, asking: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” But Jesus’ first reaction to Nathaniel is a compliment and compassion, saying, “Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him.” Our Lord’s remarks are rooted in the future fact that both Jesus and Nathaniel will share the same womb of baptism and be born again by water and the Spirit. That baptism will not only make them brothers, but they will also be bound to show each other rachamim, mercy. And mercy, compassion, can be shown in something as simple as a compliment rather than a criticism.

My friends, Dc. Dan’s insight holds a very important implication for all of us today. That is, we are all brothers and sisters because we all came from one woman, Eve, whom Genesis 3:20 called, “mother of all the living.” Even the recent findings of evolutionary biology point to one woman as the common ancestor of all humanity. Because we come from that one womb – one rachamim – we must practice mercy on all other people, regardless of race or religion, color or creed.

But we who have been baptized as Christians should feel a double demand of love because we have all shared the womb of baptism. A baptismal font should be shaped like and imitate a woman’s womb and connect us not only to Christ, but also to each other. And that connection should be exercised in terms of compassion for each other, mercy, rachamim, because we have shared the same womb and spiritually suckled at the same abundant breasts of Mother Church. We can put that mercy into practice just as simply and sweetly as Jesus did by paying someone a compliment rather than a criticism.

I pray Dc. Dan will have a great retreat for the deacon class, and I have little doubt that he will. But, you know, it’s easy to pray for Dc. Dan. Today, let us pray for all those with whom we disagree and are divided. Look for a chance to show them mercy and compassion because they, too, are our brothers and sisters. After all, we have shared the same womb, the same rachamim, with them.

Praised be Jesus Christ!