The Journey of Pregnancy: Sentinels of a New Dawn

Julian Paparella

Friday, August 16, 2024

Pexels photo.

My wife would say that pregnancy lasts 9 months so that the couple has enough time to prepare for what is about to happen to them. This is all the more true when you’re expecting your first child! In the first few months, despite the periodic reminders via bouts of nausea, it can be difficult to grasp that a new life is actually on its way. Then eventually the pregnancy begins to “show.” and the idea starts becoming more concrete. Of course, getting to see your child in an ultrasound can stir up the indescribable sense that a new person is here, so small yet so real. Nestled quietly in the mother’s womb, the baby takes the first steps into our hearts as a miracle in our midst. It is a time of getting ready, of watching and waiting.

At the start of this century, as the masses frenzied over Y2K, Pope John Paul II called on young people to be “sentinels of a new dawn of hope.”

A sentinel is someone who keeps watch, like morning watchmen awaiting the dawn in Isaiah 21:11-12. Being a sentinel who waits for the dawn requires patience. The night is long and the darkness can seem endless. But for those watching for the light, the night also brings a tremendous sense of wonder and expectation. As the glow of the new day appears on the horizon, the promise of the morning gradually awakens joy.

In the Gospels, Jesus spoke of “keeping watch” as a key lesson for his disciples: watching out for God’s coming so that we can be ready to welcome him into our lives. This same spiritual attitude of keeping watch for God’s presence also applies to God’s gifts in our lives. What greater gift could God give a man and a woman than a child?

Keeping watch for the child on the way is a journey of the heart for the baby’s parents. Of course, there is much to prepare for the baby’s arrival, practical things like the stroller, the car seat, the crib, and the clothes. But there is also a deeper preparation waiting to unfold, in order to welcome this gift of God not just into our home but into our hearts. It’s not about being “perfectly ready”: After all, who could be? But we can ask God to ready our hearts, to plant seeds within us to love the new child as he does, with tenderness and joy.

Through the ups and downs of pregnancy, it can help to remember what it’s all about: welcoming the child as a precious gift. A child brings new hope to a couple, to a family, and indeed to the world, as a new person who opens up a new beginning. For every child is a spark of hope for humanity.

So many colours fill the morning sky before the beams of sunlight rise up above the horizon. Seeing the baby face to face at long last, holding him or her in our arms – this is the sunrise to watch and wait for, the dawn of a new life.

Christ, our Dawn, come to us in those little dawns You send our way, those joys in life that are worth waiting for. Keep our eyes fixed on the horizon, till the morning star rises in our hearts. Amen.