The Blessed Virgin did each of these humble little chores for GOD HIMSELF!
Of all the household chores that can be done around the home, the chore that my mother-in-law most prefers is washing the clothes.
You see, my elderly mother-in-law raised her family during the civil war in Lebanon. And this meant that with the power outages and water shortages, washing clothes was a terrible struggle while she was raising her family. So, when she came to visit us in Australia some years ago, she very much enjoyed the “novelty” of being able to turn a washing machine on at any time of the day and night and have the water run into it without a problem and have the machine complete the cycle with the electricity uninterrupted. For she compared the luxury of this task of mine with her own experience of washing her five children’s clothes using a bar of soap, a washboard and her own muscles...
And I have been reflecting on this task of washing and on how much more difficult it was for my mother-in-law than it has ever been for me. You see – though there were times when my mother hand-washed clothes, or was reduced to hand-washing and hand-wringing clothes when our washing machine broke down – for the greater part of my life, washing clothes has been a relatively simple process.
And as I have been reflecting on the simplicity of the daily household tasks – like the washing of our clothes – that I do to keep the household running, I have thought about the work of the Blessed Virgin, Queen of Heaven, and Mother of God.
You see – unlike so many women today – my elderly mother-in-law never had paid employment because her entire life has been spent maintaining the domestic requirements of a home for her family. And as I reflect on the humble work of my mother-in-law, it reminds me of the humility of the Blessed Virgin, Queen of Heaven. For the work of the Blessed Virgin was even more humble than that.
For I have come to realise that the Blessed Virgin – the soul who was created to be Queen of Heaven – spent her Earthly life doing humble domestic duties. And not only that – she did those duties without the benefit of electricity, running water, or any mechanised or modern appliances.
That means that when she washed the clothes of God – she washed them on a washboard with a bar of soap. That means that when she cooked a meal for God – she cooked it on an open fire that she had first lit and flamed and allowed to burn low enough to work with. That means that when she cleaned the floor for God – she cleaned it with her own two hands standing on her own two feet and bending from her own loving back.
And as I reflect on these very humble tasks of the Blessed Virgin, I think most profoundly about the fact that she must surely have done everything so well – to the very best of her ability – and I know this, because I know that the Blessed Virgin did each of these humble little chores for GOD HIMSELF!
And that makes me think… You see, my faith tells me that we are each of us Temples of the Holy Spirit – which means that God Himself is in each of us. And that means that I am called to follow the example of the Blessed Virgin. For she did EVERY TASK – even the most humble and mundane – for GOD HIMSELF… And what better example could I possibly hope to follow than that?
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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