Life can change in an instant, and that is exactly what happened to us. I am writing on my journal from the middle of the desert. Yes, we are no longer in Bethlehem. Once again, when life was starting to feel pleasant, we had to pack and leave.
It all happened so fast that I cannot even believe it. But since the moment that angel Gabriel appeared to me, I’ve had to learn to confide in Yahweh. He is teaching us to live on the go while holding unto His hand.
After we returned from presenting our Child in the Temple, Joseph had another dream. I had just finished writing about our trip to Jerusalem, when Joseph came out of the room with anxiety painted all over his face. At first, I thought that he was being anxious for the same reason I had not been able to fall asleep. But his anxiety had nothing to do with Simeon’s prophecy. He told me that an angel had appeared to him in a dream.
“What did the angel say?” I asked him.
“Mary, we have to go to Egypt,” he answered me.
“Egypt? Why?” I asked.
Joseph recounted the dream: “The angel said to me: ‘Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.’”
Once again, I felt a sword pierce my heart, just like Simeon had predicted. But there was nothing I could do. We had to leave.
We hardly had anything that we could take with us. Our only treasure was Jesus. And the second most important thing was the donkey that had accompanied me from the very beginning when I visited my cousin Elizabeth in what seemed like a lifetime ago.
I packed a few items of clothing for the baby. Joseph and I didn’t take anything, just the clothing that we were wearing. As we were preparing some food to take with us, Matthias woke up. We told him that we had to leave. He was surprised that we were departing in such a rush. All we told him was that we had received some urgent news, and that we needed to go. Matthias did not ask us anything else, assuming that the urgency was related to our family. He wanted to wake up Joanna so she could bid us goodbye, but I stopped him. I told him that it was best if he allowed her to rest after the long journey that we had made the day before. In reality, I knew that it would be too difficult for me to have to keep the truth from her. It was better this way. We promised him that we would send word as soon as we arrived to our destination, and that we would visit them the next time that we came to Bethlehem.
We left before the sun came out, just like when we left Nazareth towards Bethlehem almost three months ago. Darkness once again was our companion. I looked back one last time towards the little town that had not been very welcoming at first, but that had eventually become home. “Good-bye Bethlehem,” I said to myself. “You are the birthplace of my Son, the city of promise. O Bethlehem, you are little to be among the clans of Judah, and yet from you came forth the One who is to be ruler in Israel.”
We had to join a caravan that was on route to Egypt. Once again, we had to leave behind the second wooden crib that Joseph had made with so much love for our Baby. It is difficult to live on the road, like refugees that don’t have a home nor a country. I found comfort in remembering my ancestor, Abraham. He also had to obey God, leave his land and move to a foreign country.
We were the children of the Exodus, always in search of the Promised Land. And yet, Egypt did not sound to me like a Promised Land. It was a remote country where our ancestors were slaves until Moses liberated them. I felt like God was taking us to the other end of the world. The only place where Herod would not search for our Baby. Why would he think that a little innocent Baby could be a threat to him?
The trip to Egypt is mostly through the desert. The dunes serve us as guidance, but at the same time, we have to walk far away from them. The sand near the dunes is too soft, and we could be buried alive. I cannot imagine the sand being any softer than what we were experiencing. It got to a point that I decided just to walk behind the donkey for fear that the combination of our weight would bury the donkey in the sand.
This same desert has been traversed by my ancestors, from Abraham to Moses, from Isaac to Jacob to his twelve sons, the twelve tribes of Israel. Yes, the desert was my home, and yet, it seemed so foreign to me. It spoke to me in the wind, trying to reveal its hidden secrets. The patriarchs were journeying with me, letting me know that I was not alone. And as my Baby Boy slept peacefully in my arms, I felt a peace within me that could only come from God.
Reflection:
Mary’s life seems to be a constant journey. In what ways is my life a “journey of faith”? How do I see God guiding the course of my life?
References:
- Matthew 2:13
Copyright © 2020 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
All Bible references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise specified.
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