And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.’” (Luke 1:45).
When the Angel of the Lord appeared to the Blessed Virgin, in her response she acknowledged that people would call her “blessed”.
And that acknowledgement came true immediately after that Annunciation, when she went – under instruction from the Angel – to visit her kinswoman, Elizabeth in the hillside of Judea in what we reflect on as the Visitation in the Second Joyful Mystery of the Most Holy Rosary…
“Elizabeth exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.’” (Luke 1:39-45).
And I have been reflecting on why the Blessed Virgin was called “Blessed”. After all, at that time, she was an unwed teenage mother who did not even know if her betrothed husband would commit to her and marry her – even knowing that she had conceived a Child who was not his child. And what she was really facing was a death sentence.
In that moment of the Incarnation, the Blessed Virgin accepted that from a human perspective there was no way that she was going to come out of this experience alive. She would be found out, stoned and killed in a public and bloody and humiliating execution.
And yet – she was not. Instead, she was protected and called Blessed.
Now, Christmas is only just behind us, but I have been reflecting on the result of that. You see God took such care of the Blessed Virgin that she was saved from this bloody execution. In fact, He took such care of her that He literally bore that execution in His own Holy Body – perhaps not for the sake of the Blessed Virgin who was conceived, born and lived sinless – but for all the Children of God, who she had adopted as her own…
And the Blessed Virgin trusted in the Holy Will of God. That is why she is called Blessed. Not because her life was easier than mine or because she suffered less than me. In actual fact, the Blessed Virgin had a much harder life than mine and suffered far more than me. It is no easy thing to remain sinless in this world. It takes great discipline, faith, courage and fortitude to continually resist temptation. And at times it much have caused the Blessed Virgin physical, emotional, spiritual and mental pain to remain sinless, when every temptation thrown her way was to surrender.
And reflecting on that determination of the Virgin to have FAITH in God despite everything, I am called to pray for all of those facing a certain death from an Earthly perspective. I pray for their faith and that they have hope. For the faith and hope of the Blessed Virgin are what has enabled her to be called Blessed – Blessed is her name…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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