“No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary.” (Pope Saint John Paul II).
As we approach the end of Lent, I am beginning to think about the Start of Redemption.
You see, though we are saved at Easter – upon the Resurrection of Christ – that salvation began with the Incarnation and the Birth of Christ…
“And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this Child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. And at the end of eight days, when He was circumcised, He was called Jesus, the name given by the angel.” (Luke 2:16-21).
When the Blessed Virgin gave birth to the Son of God she pondered in her heart all that she saw.
Imagine the miracle of that Birth. It is said that the Birth of Christ was as miraculous as His resurrection from Death. You see when Christ was born – so as to preserve the virginity of His Blessed Mother – He was transfigured from her body. The miracle of His Birth was witnessed by the Angels and the Queen of the Angels, the Blessed Virgin, who gave birth to her Holy Son – the Son of God – In the writings of Venerable Maria of Agreda, the Nun wrote that the birth of Christ took place int his manner, as revealed to her in a vision by the Blessed Virgin. And though the Catholic Church have not accepted this revelation as dogma, the Church has not denied the revelation and Catholics are free to believe this private revelation as exactly that – a private revelation…
And I feel the urge – personally and privately – to believe in such a miracle as that. After all if Christ’s conception was miraculous and His life was miraculous and if Christ’s Resurrection was miraculous, then it only makes sense that Christ’s birth – right there att he start of things – would have been miraculous too…
And I have been reflecting on the ponderings of the Blessed Virgin, because her ponderings were the start of all of ours… you see, Pope Saint John Paul II invites us to contemplate the Virgin’s gaze on her Child when he said, “The contemplation of Christ has a remarkable model in Mary. In a unique way the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary.”
And I have been reflecting on that. Because there – in that stable inside a manger – at the start, my Salvation was born into the world. And through that salvation, all things can live on in me… All things can live on…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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