Unborn Jesus Our Hope.

Unborn Jesus Our Hope WRITTEN BY George A. Peate PUBLISHED BY Life Cycle Books, Toronto, 2006 ISBN: 0919225314, Softcover, pp. 173, $10.95 CAD

The life of an unborn child has been--until fairly recently--quite mysterious. He (or she) lives in a hidden world, intimately shared with his mother. Even the father, deeply connected of course, cannot fully share their encounter. It is the mother who is constantly aware of her child's presence, and typically develops a relationship with him long before his birth. She feels him in her own physical responses to pregnancy, and shortly after, in his fluttering, kicking, and jabbing. She laughingly chides him for the rump pressed firmly into her ribs. He is well known and loved by her when the time comes for him to be placed in her arms, his beautiful face to be discovered at last.

Usually, those of us on the outside have tended not to reflect too much on the unborn child, but to see pregnancy as an event in the mother's life. That began to change in the 1960's, when the legalization of abortion was becoming a shocking reality in North America. Feminism declared that pregnancy was a personal issue between a woman and her doctor, even as the veil was being lifted on the secrets within the womb. Through technological innovations, the life of the unborn child could be glimpsed from outside, and the unique journey of the unborn child could be witnessed as never before.

George Peate, inspired by the horrible assault on the unborn, as well as the growing awareness of what life is like in the womb, leads us to reflect on the Person of Unborn Jesus, His mission before birth, and the significance of that mission to our age and time. When we consider the contempt that unborn children suffer today, we can meditate on Unborn Jesus. He suffered to become the most insignificant of humankind, beginning with a single cell. Unborn Jesus, in the miracle of the Incarnation, began His earthly life in solidarity with all humanity, including those "clumps of cells" so easily disposed of today. As humble as was His birth in Bethlehem, it pales when compared to the simplicity of a single cell!

Peate reflects upon the mission of Unborn Jesus, who proclaims at the moment of His Incarnation:

"Sacrifices and offerings thou has not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou has taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'Lo, I have come to do Thy will, O God,' as it is written of me in the roll of the book (Heb. 10:5-7)."

From within the tranquil waters of His mother's womb, Unborn Jesus was immediately obedient to His Father, fulfilling prophecy, preparing the world for the imminent arrival of the Messiah. Because, not only was He "conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary ..." but between those points in time, He was actively moving the hearts and souls of those around Him: Mary and Joseph, Elizabeth and Zachariah, and unborn John the Baptist. The journey from the Incarnation through the Visitation, back to Nazareth and ultimately, to Bethlehem, is a spiritual meditation designed for our times. The significance of Christ's presence during those nine months highlights the significance of the lives of all unborn children. Supported by Scripture, the author guides us through the various aspects of the unborn life of Jesus, and includes many reflections from saints and scholars from over the ages. It is an eclectic group that includes Augustine, Aquinas and Pope John Paul II, as well as Luther, Calvin and Billy Graham. Although the theology is totally Catholic, the inclusion of numerous Protestant sources makes this book equally accessible to non-Catholics, inviting all Christians to meditate on the mysterious events in the life of Unborn Jesus.

It is a reflection--a devotion--well-suited to our time. To consider the life of Jesus, from the Incarnation to the Nativity, is a reminder of our own most basic beginnings, of little lives filled with meaning and purpose-not just potential lives, but real lives lived and loved.

REVIEWED BY REGINA FARRELL