Today I look to the Blessed Virgin as the example of what I should be – BLESSED. Simply Blessed!
I have been reflecting on the relationship between Christ and His Mother.
The Blessed Virgin was a soul Blessed above all souls because it was her calling to be the Mother of God. And in this calling, there was terrible suffering – and her suffering continues until the end of time because as the Mother of God she agreed to become the Mother of the Holy Church and the Mother of all souls within that Church. And that means that she agreed to bear the sorrows of a mother for all the sinful choices that I make that lead me away from salvation and lead me – not along the narrow road – but along the wide one…
Once, in the Gospel, people praised the Blessed Virgin for her role as Mother of God. And I have always considered Christ’s reply quite harsh. After all a woman in the crowd said that the Virgin was blessed to have borne the Messiah, and Christ replied, “‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’” (Luke 11:28).
“As He said this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!’ But He said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’” (Luke 11:27-28).
I used to think that in some way this was Christ’s way of elevating others OVER His Blessed Mother, of helping her to grow in humility. But the other day when I read these words, it occurred to me that this was not it at all… This was in fact the MOST beautiful thing that Christ could say about His Blessed Mother. Because in this phrase He was acknowledging her not for what others may have seen as an “accident” of His birth, rather He was acknowledging her as one who HEARD THE WORD OF GOD AND KEPT IT.
Saint Josemaria said, “Never make a decision without stopping to consider the matter in the presence of God.”
And I am thinking about how that scene looked twenty centuries ago. There was Christ, speaking to the crowds. And there were hundreds of people trying to cram into the space to hear Him speak. Perhaps they were jostling a bit to get to the front? Perhaps some were disinterested and simply listened as a matter of curiosity? Perhaps others were overwhelmed and overcome by the message they were hearing? And there would have been women in the house trying to prepare the food and drink to sustain the guests.
And the Blessed Virgin stood perhaps at the back of the room, in a corner, quietly listening to God speak to them all, and quietly adoring Him. And then one of the women was overcome by the message she was hearing, and she turned to see the Mother of God, and – so as to compliment her and God Himself – she praised His Mother. And the Blessed Virgin may have smiled with downcast eyes and listened with joy as Her Son acknowledged – not His birth – but the vocation of His Mother as the Handmaid of the Lord.
And as I imagine that scene today, I imagine the confusion of the crowd melting away as they looked to the Blessed Virgin as an example of what they should be.
And today I look to her as the example of what I should be – BLESSED. Simply Blessed!
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
Komentáře