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Mary, A Woman Wrapped in The Silence of Faith

Fr. E. J. Murray, S.M.

(Excerpted from 1982 June Worldwide Family Spirit magazine)

Perhaps one of the most badly abused phrases in all of Christendom is the phrase, "The Will of God” The baby dies, "It's God's Will." The young mother dies of cancer, "It's God's Will." Natural catastrophes wipe out thousands of lives, "It's God's Will “Six million human beings are wiped out by Nazi Germany, "It's God's Will” I think a great deal more caution should be employed when attributing God's Will to human and natural events If I knew God's Will, I would be God. And a God whose Will I could comprehend would not be God I would be His equal.

And what about the will of the Devil, my own confused will which makes sometimes faulty decisions, the consequences of which I must suffer? And what about the will of my neighbor which can be vindictive at times and victimize me? If you can make all those distinctions, I assure you, you're more wise than the experts. All that I know of God's Will is in St. Paul, when he said, "This is the Will of God, your sanctification “That word stymies us somewhat, but in the Hebrew it means something more akin to "happiness." Remember the old catechism answer to "Why did God make me?"? "He made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him and to be happy with Him here and hereafter”

Yet what does this mean when life so often is such a struggle and occasionally seriously painful? It matters not how upholstered your life might be with wealth, prestige, youth, beauty or power, -you are going to know pain. And I'm not speaking of the kind of grinding, daily routine that wears all of us down. I'm speaking of the kind of tragedy that comes down the pike of life like the Mack truck it is, and when it hits us the pieces are all over the floor. What will it do to you? How will you handle it? If I were to share a joy with you, in minutes we would all be smiling. Joy is like that. It is infectious. When we laugh, we laugh together. But when we cry, we cry alone. That is what is so frightening about pain; it is so lonely. We can empathize, or sympathize with one in pain, but we cannot feel their pain. They are in it all alone.

Pain is like a valley into which one must enter alone, and when he comes out of that valley, what will the pain have done to him? Will he be burnt to a cynical cinder, shaking his puny fist in the face of God and crying out in despair, "Why has this happened to me? What have I ever done to deserve this?" And he will-be destroyed. For there are no answers. It is a mystery. Our challenge as Christians is to respond with Christian Faith. Our constant threat is that we react with human instincts and instincts are blind. When you stop to think of it, Faith begins when you have no more reasons to believe Reasons are demonstrable proofs, evidence. That is not Faith. That is knowledge. "Blessed are those who do not see and believe”

Christ's life was more of a passion than an action. Let me explain. Do you remember in grammar school when you studied active and passive verbs? "John hit the ball" is an example of an active verb "John was hit by the ball" is an example of a passive verb. Well, Christ was hit by life, and He said, with a conscious response, "Yes” No matter who or what the need was, He responded with a conscious, "Yes." Until one day mankind said, "To the Cross with Him." And He said, "Yes. If I be lifted up, I will draw all mankind to myself."

I'm sure, that like myself, you have had your share of tragedy in your life. And perhaps you were brought to your knees in front of the crucified Christ and you prayed. And perhaps, just perhaps, there was a nagging little doubt flitting about in your head, "Yes Jesus, you suffered untold agony. But do you really know and understand what we must endure? After all, you were Divine. You were the Son of God “Well, though I can understand that, it is wrong. He fully realizes our plight. Nonetheless, that doubt is understandable.

But you see there is someone who can relate to our distress. Someone who was in no way divine. Someone just like us. Her name was Mary It's a knowledgeable guess that she was about fifteen years of age when she conceived Christ. She was young, lovely, in love, betrothed to be married. She dreamed her dreams. Her fiancé was a young, strapping carpenter. It is believed that Joseph would have been about eighteen. They married young in that age in that part of the world The limited, illiterate people of the Middle Ages could not cope with a young, virile Joseph living with a chaste and virginal wife, and so the Church depicted Joseph as an old and graying man But in reality, he was quite probably just a few years her senior, and he loved her very much Excitement was at fever pitch at that time. There was an urgent expectancy about the coming Messiah. Women dreamed of marriage and bearing a son in hopes that he would be the promised King. And Mary dreamed her dreams. Stars were in her eyes.

Then one day an Angel of the Lord appeared to her and told her she would have a son, and He would be the Son of the Most High. She was troubled at his greeting, and the angel told her not to be afraid: the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the child she would bear would reign on the throne of David (his kingly ancestor) forever. And as soon as Mary heard that it was God's doing, she exclaimed with a fifteen-year-old's effervescent enthusiasm, "O, let it be done to me, according to your word." And the angel told her that her cousin, Elizabeth, though a mature woman who had been barren, was also expecting, and she was in her sixth month. "For nothing is impossible with God." And as soon as Mary heard this joyous news, the Gospel tells us, "She went, with haste, to the hill country to visit her cousin Elizabeth."

I find that so typically feminine. And as soon as she entered her cousin, Elizabeth's home, the older woman cried out, "How is it, the Mother of my Lord should come to me? For the moment you entered, the baby leaped in my womb for joy." And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior." I can just see the two women at the kitchen table, sharing dreams, as they drank coffee. Pregnant women have much to share. She stayed with Elizabeth some three months, till the elder woman's son, John the Baptist, was born. Then she stayed on additional weeks until the new mother could get on her feet.

At last she returned to Nazareth. She had been gone about four months and she'd changed. And Joseph saw the change and he was hurt, filled with doubt He wanted to divorce her and secret her away, lest she be stoned to death as an adulteress. Mary saw the pain in his eye. In her simplicity she wanted to go to him and say, "But Joseph, darlin', you don't understand. An angel of the Lord came to me, Mary of Nazareth. And I'm going to be the mother of the King of the Jews, the mother of the Messiah, the mother of . . ," but then her thoughts trailed off "How can I put his Faith to that kind of a test? He'll think I'm crazy." So she looked to heaven and she said, "Let it be done to me according to your word” But the stars got a little dim in her eyes. God, in His goodness, told Joseph what had happened, and Joseph believed. And the stars returned to Mary's eyes.

Months went by, and one day Mary was in town shopping, and she saw a huge billboard which read, "Everyone must be enrolled in a census, for Caesar must know how many people he can tax. You must return to the town of your ancestors to be enrolled." How I can just envision Mary standing there, her heart sinking. Her thoughts even more so "Oh dear Lord, what am I to do? I'm in my ninth month. This is no time for me to have to travel across the desert away from my home and my mother." But then, being human, she probably thought, "Oh, I see God. You don't want your Son to be born in the back hills of Nazareth of Galilee Bethlehem is the town of our ancestors, and it is a suburb of the great city of Jerusalem. Just about seven miles distant. And there is the great temple and all the VIP's. Oh, I see God." So she made the journey with Joseph, and it was long and difficult, and they arrived at Jerusalem.

If you've ever seen the great cities of New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles at the time of a Convention, then you know what Jerusalem was like Jews had come back from all over the known world to be enrolled. Families were getting together. There was camping on the hillsides and dancing in the sheets. There was no room for a woman in her condition. They went on the additional few miles to Bethlehem and the same thing prevailed there. There was no room for them. A kindly old man came up to Joseph and said, "Son, your wife is in a bad way. There are some caves just out of town that are used for cattle and sheep on stormy nights. That is all we have."

And so Joseph took his wife to the caves. He built a fire to dry it out He cleaned it and tried to stifle the stench I can just see him turning to Mary with a heavy heart and saying, "Mary darlin', this is all I have " Her heart heavy, she probably thought to herself, "Dear God, a cave." And all she could pray was, "Let it be done to me according to your word."

She went within and bore her child, and for one brief moment there were lights in the sky, and angels sang of Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of good will. Her heart quickened, and she thought, "Now they'll come. Now they'll know." And she looked to the mouth of the cave and she saw shepherds. We romanticize shepherds at Christmas time, but often as naught, they were nomadic men of the night whom few could trust. She smiled and bade them come in. But the Gospel tells us, "She pondered in her heart."

Shortly after this, Joseph awoke her in the middle of the night. He was in a panic. "Mary, take the child. Grab what clothing you can. We must flee! The King is sending troops to murder the baby!” Dear God," she thought, "what is happening? I conceived Him miraculously; I bore Him miraculously. What harm does He pose? Whom does he threaten?" But she fled with Joseph, crossing the desert by night, clutching her baby to her breast, fear flooding her heart She was leaving behind her home, her parents, her friends, her temple And all she could say was, "Let it be done to me according to your word " They crossed the desert and border into Egypt They had to live there clandestinely for a number of years, until the mad and wicked King Herod died, and it was safe to return.

They came back to Nazareth and settled down Joseph opened his carpenter shop, and Mary watched her son grow He was twelve, sixteen, eighteen She would watch Him trudge off down the street, bearing the tables and chairs He had fashioned in His father's shop, delivering His goods to the customers She loved Him She was proud of Him And then one day, He was a man

He came to her one day and said, "Mother, my time has come " She gave Him her blessing and off He went If there had been a Nazareth Daily Courier, the headlines would have read, "Local boy makes good!" His fame was all over the land Women would gather with Mary at the well or market "Aren't you proud of your boy?" they would say Yes, she was Then one day He came home to Nazareth

There were banners in the streets "Jesus is coming! Jesus is coming!" The streets were crowded to greet Him They led Him to the temple There was standing room only As was the custom, whoever felt so inclined went to the podium and read from the scrolls of the prophets All eyes were on Jesus He read from the great prophet Isaiah, who wrote about seven hundred years before Christ, and foretold many things about the suffering-servant nature of the Messiah A great deal of Isaiah is read at the Mass during Advent

Then Jesus put down the scroll and stared about the temple. There were the High Priests, the Elders, His relatives, friends, fellows He had played ball with when He was a child. He looked at them and said, "In this day is this prophecy fulfilled in me" And there was stunned silence. They knew with a shock what He was saying. One man leaped to his feet and shouted, "No Jesus, you are not the Messiah, the King of Israel You are a carpenter, the son of Joseph and Mary This is blasphemy," (a capital crime) Mob violence broke out and they rushed Him through the streets and would have thrown Him from the cliff, but He escaped them Mary saw this "Why won't they believe Him?" Her heart grew troubled.

Shortly after that, in the middle of the night, young John came pounding at her door "Mary, Mary, they have arrested Jesus He's to be put to torture, and rumor has it that tomorrow He will be crucified " She knew what this meant There were crosses always standing at the city gates Criminals hung upon them sometimes five days, screaming for mercy It was the Roman method of controlling oppressed people When she went into town to shop, she would shield her little boy's eyes so He wouldn't see that horror.

She rushed with John to the Governor’s palace, and at dawn they brought Him out Her heart broke She could hardly recognize Him Covered with blood, crowned with thorns, robed in mock royal purple. He stood: head bowed, abandoned. Her blood froze! She heard people around her screaming, "To the cross with Him" "Crucify Him" She looked to see who was screaming and she saw the deaf and dumb, the lame and the blind, all the people He had helped, squeezing their slimy pieces of gold, the bribes from the High Priests They stripped Him, put a rope around His neck and then tied the cross beam upon His shoulders and outstretched arms Comparable to an extended railroad tie, it is estimated to have weighed eighty pounds! He was dragged stumblingly through the streets like a beast. The crowd was pushing; jeering and shoving. She tried to get near to Him. She couldn't reach Him.

Right outside the city gate was a small hill It wasn't much of a hill It was called Calvary. It was the city dump They dragged Him to the top, stripped Him, pounded nails into His wrists, then raised His pinioned Blessed Self up upon the upright until the cross beam fell into its slot They then nailed His feet, and with each clang of the hammer on the nail another sword pierced Her heart And she did not understand And she said, "Let it be done to me according to your word."

She was a mature woman now of about forty-eight years, and she stood there and watched her son die They took Him down from the cross and carried Him a short distance to another cave, and placed His dead body upon her lap I can just see her, like Michelangelo's Pieta, clutching her dead Son to her breast, groaning in her grief And I can just see her mind race back thirty-three years to another night, to another cave when she held Him as a baby at her breast. And I can just hear her muted heart cry out, "Dear God, I never dreamed it would turn out like this I never dreamed this could happen to me."

They took Him from her and placed Him in the tomb, rolled the stone across its entrance. She was a widow, childless, and she went home without a single star left in her eye and all she could say was. "Let it be done to me according to your word."

Mary, a woman who is described in the book of the Apocalypse as clothed with the sun, standing on the moon, and crowned with stars Mary, a woman who is called Queen of Heaven Queen of the Apostles, Mother of God, was allowed to become the Mother of Sorrows Why? I don't know. And her Son, the Prince of Peace, was crowned with thorns and enthroned on a cross. Why? I don't know.

But I do know this Had Mary not had her seven swords and responded as she did, with believing in belief, and trusting in trust, she would never have had her Assumption. And had Christ not had His Gethsemane and His Calvary, and responded with believing in belief and trusting in trust, when there was no more reason to trust, He would never have had His Easter!

And I do know this. If such were allowed to be the lot of Mary, The Mother of God, and Jesus Christ, His only Son, how dare you, or how dare I ever claim to be an exemption.

And I do know this. When Almighty God said. "Let it be!" - all creation came into existence. And when Mary said, "Let it be," the second Person of the Blessed Trinity broke the barriers of time and eternity, space and infinity, and became a baby And when Jesus Christ in Gethsemane said, "Let it be!" all mankind was redeemed And if you and I have the courage and the Faith to say “Let it be!’' when our Calvary comes, as it surely will, our salvation, our sanctification will come to be. And that is the Will of God.

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