Today, I pray for the Grace to Trust in my God with the trust of the Blessed Virgin.
I have been reflecting on the lost Child in Jerusalem. I am reflecting on the vision of a young twelve year old boy sitting among the elders and enlightening them.
“His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem... After three days they found Him in the temple... And when they saw Him they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, ‘Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.’” (Luke 2:41-51).
And those three days must have been something to behold. The Mother of God had lost Him and she was without Him. Her entire life’s purpose was missing for three whole days. The whole reason that Saint Joseph had been born and betrothed of the Virgin was to protect that Child and yet, for three whole days their life’s purpose – their Blessed Son – was missing. Now, with hindsight, we can image that it would have been sort of calm. After all they had only three days to wait to be reunited with Him. Perhaps – with our vast knowledge and the passing of twenty centuries – we consider that they could treat this as visitation with another parent, or a weekend away with the Grandparents. But, of course, at the time the Blessed Virgin and Holy Saint Joseph had no idea if or when they would be reunited with the Son of God. Perhaps in their minds they considered that the entire mission to save the world was lost – on their watch, so to speak.
I can imagine God the Father and God the Holy Spirit watching their anguish and comforting them. And more than this, I can imagine the strong testament to the Faith of the Blessed Virgin, which was surely being tested in this moment to prepare her for the Death of her Holy Son. And I imagine how much God loved her for enduring this necessary test. I can imagine His joy in the offering of His Handmaid.
As a mother, I cannot imagine the heartache of enduring the loss of a child – either for a period of time or permanently. And yet the Blessed Mother endured that experience of loss not only for those three days that her Holy Son was lost in Jerusalem, but she continues to endure it each time one of our souls is damned to Hell. We are her children – it is not a metaphorical relationships – but a true relationship. She is my mother as clearly as the woman who gave birth to me and whose biological material is contained in my cells. And being my mother, she suffers such pangs of grief at the spiritual death of a child.
And for that I am so sorry for the Blessed Virgin. For she waits so quietly without despair. For she trusts in God is a perfect way. And today, I pray for the Grace to Trust in my God with the trust of the Blessed Virgin. For that trust would surely withstand any test that He sent my way…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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