“Mary stayed with her about three months...” Luke 1:56
I have been with Elizabeth for almost three months. The baby should be born any day now. Elizabeth’s belly is so big that she can hardly walk. I, on the other hand, I’m not showing yet, even though I have completed my first trimester.
Elizabeth spends most of the day resting with her feet up. She is more comfortable sitting up, so even at night, she sleeps in a chair with cushions and blankets all around her. She has been experiencing a lot of back pain, and if she lays flat, she can hardly breathe. I am handling all of the household responsibilities. It took some effort on my part to be able to convince her because she wanted to carry her share, but she soon realized that for her baby’s sake, she needed to rest.
Everything is ready to receive the baby. Zacharias and his brother built a wooden cradle. I finished sewing the swaddling clothes and coverlets in which the baby will be wrapped upon the birth. I also knitted a few woolen blankets. Even though it’s now summer and the days are very hot, the nights can be cool here near the mountains.
The days are busy with chores, but I still make time for prayer and meditation. My conversations with Elizabeth have also helped me to quench my fears, and answer all the questions that have been swirling around in my mind. One of the biggest questions that I had within me was why God would have chosen me, such an ordinary and simple girl, to be the mother of the Messiah. Elizabeth made me comprehend that God chose me before I was even born. Elizabeth told me these words: “Mary, since you were a little girl, I knew that you were different from all the other children. You had a purity about you that was not normal for a child. You were undefiled, free from moral impurity. I always thought that if I could look within you, your soul would be white as snow. Your whole personality has always been to be at the service of God and others. You have been immaculate since you were conceived. It’s as if God preserved you free from the stain of sin, so you could be a pure vessel to carry His Son.”
I remembered the words of the Magnificat that bursted from my heart when I first encountered Elizabeth: “My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior for He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave.” And yes, my spirit rejoices because God has looked down on my lowliness.
Elizabeth continued talking: “The larger the emptiness of a nest, the bigger the bird that can be housed therein. God chose you because your soul has room for Him. He looked for a humble heart, a heart empty of pride, and the emptiest heart He could find, He filled it with His very Self. Lowliness and exaltation are combined in you, Mary. Lowliness because you judge yourself to be unworthy of being the Mother of Our Lord; exalted because God, looking upon what you believed was nothingness, created a world out of nothing.”
Elizabeth has also quenched my fears about what will happen to me if Joseph and my family do not believe that even though I am with child, I am still a Virgin. Elizabeth told me: “Mary, do not worry. If God has chosen you to be the mother of His Son, He is not going to abandon you. He will not allow anything bad to happen to you. I do not know how He will let Joseph know, but I do know that Joseph has a big part to play in this story.”
Every day before I retire for the night, I prostate myself on the floor, and I pray to my Lord: “Lord and God of my soul, I beseech You to open the heart of Joseph to accept me and your Holy Child, once he learns that I am expecting. It would not be good that I be left without a husband for a protection and guardian. Do not permit, my Lord and God, that he withdraw from me.”
I trust my Lord and God that when the time is right, He will reveal the truth to my dear Joseph.
Reflection:
Elizabeth’s words to Mary indicate that Elizabeth, just like Mary, had a very close relationship with God. How is my relationship with God? How is my relationship with Mary? In what ways do I honor her? I should pray to the Holy Spirit for inspiration and guidance so my relationship with Mary can deepen and grow during this Advent Season.
Copyright © 2019 Christy Romero. All rights reserved.
Resources from the following books are being used on this journey:
1. The Mystical City of God: A Popular Abridgement of the Divine History and Live of the Virgin Mother of God by Venerable Mary of Agreda
2. The World’s First Love: Mary, Mother of God by Fulton J. Sheen
3. Las Palabras Calladas: Diario de Maria de Nazaret by Pedro Miguel Lamet
4. My Soul Magnifies the Lord: A Scriptural Journey with Mary by Jeanne Kun
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