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     The Book of Judges and the Gospel According to Luke focus today on improbable pregnancy as a part of the narrative of Jesus' origins.  Indeed, the pregnancies of Samson's mother (unnamed), Elizabeth and Mary (and we can add Sarah, the mother of Isaac and Hannah, the mother of Samuel, the prophet) are all seen as a matter of divine intervention.  But we should not ignore the situation of some of these women who were enduring the sorrow of "barrenness."  I have friends who have suffered in this way and pray for them often.  Current parlance lumps all this under the term, "fertility issues," but this means more than a medical condition.  It can mean a test of faith.

     Mary was not subject to the barrenness that Elizabeth, Sarah, Hannah and the mother of Samson endured.  However, the improbability of her pregnancy created a crisis for Joseph and family.  Given the cultural ways of the time, he would not have been the first to know besides Mary!  

     The Christmas story is one that involves the human drama intertwined with God's plan of salvation.  It is not a neat narrative.  Genuine suffering is joined to deep faith.  The faith of the barren women is our example today.  AMEN