REFLECTION AND PRAYER
Day Six of Lent
A Leap of Joy Remembered
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” Luke 1:41-45
As our Blessed Mother stood before the Cross of her Son, she had three long hours to ponder all the powerful moments and experiences of His earthly life. Perhaps her mind would have gone back to the beginning when Saint John the Baptist testified to Jesus from the womb of Elizabeth.
Saint John sensed the presence of the Savior of the World. He was not able to understand this mystery fully with his mind, but he understood the mystery in his spirit. Joy touched him and he leaped. This was not a willful response on his part, it was an inspiration from the Holy Spirit. He received this gift of joy and responded from within the womb. Elizabeth sensed that joy and she expressed it to the Mother of God and to all of us.
As our Blessed Mother gazed upon her crucified Son, the joy of that moment, experienced so many years ago, would have brought her peace and consolation. The Father had not abandoned her Son on the Cross. How could He? How could the Father and the Holy Spirit be absent from this moment? It was the Holy Spirit who inspired Saint John all those years ago with joy, and now it was the Holy Spirit, once again, who was inspiring Jesus’ mother with a joy that transcended even her Son’s death.
As Mother Mary gazed upon her crucified Son, her joy would have resulted from the simple fact that she was gazing upon her Son. She saw His divine soul under the veil of blood and bruises. Despite the horror of the Crucifixion, the joy of His Incarnation could never be erased. He was God and He was also her Son, her flesh and blood. What a joy, what a blessing, what a gift!
Reflect, today, upon the fact that God is present to you always, no matter what you go through in life. Even in the midst of the greatest sufferings, God is present. His presence is worth rejoicing over. This joy overshadows anything and everything we encounter in life. Let the joy of the presence of God enter your heart this day as you gaze, with our Blessed Mother, upon the suffering of the Son of God.
PRAYER
Dearest Mother, your eyes beheld the greatest horror ever known but your heart leaped for joy. The joy you felt was a result of the holy and simple fact that no matter what they did to your Son, He was still God and He was still your Son. His presence always inspired hope and joy and nothing could ever take that away.
Dear Mother, pray for me that I may keep my eyes on the divine presence of your Son, no matter what I endure in life. May that divine presence be the joy that enables me to rejoice always.
My most precious Savior, no matter how beaten and bruised You are, I rejoice in Your divine presence in my life. I rejoice in Your Incarnation and union with me. May I never allow the joy of Your presence to be overshadowed by the sufferings of life.
40 Days Journey with Our Lord
Day Six: Solitude
Human beings are not meant to exist in isolation and separation. We are made for communion with God and with each other. Heaven will be lived within the unbreakable bonds of love established with God, and with every person in Heaven sharing in God’s love. So why did Jesus prepare for His public ministry in solitude? Why go off by Himself for so long?
Jesus’ solitude was an opportunity for Him to allow His human nature to rest in the spiritual union He shared with His Father as God. God the Son, in the Person of Jesus Christ in the flesh, dwelt in perfect union with His Father in Heaven without activities or distractions. This taste of Heaven on Earth was made possible only by the solitude of the desert.
In your own life, solitude is essential from time to time so that you can enter more fully into communion with God. Solitude has the potential of bringing about greater communion and oneness with God. That deeper communion with God then makes it possible for you to share more deeply in authentic and holy communion with other people.
By analogy, think about the person with whom you are closest, such as a spouse, child, parent, or friend. Though talking with them is necessary and helps build a close bond, being with them in mutual solitude also deepens your bond. For example, imagine a husband and wife sitting together in the evening, not speaking, just being with each other, in silence. The mutual solitude and silence form a deep spiritual bond that talking cannot produce.
So it is with God. If you want to enter into the deepest form of union with God as possible in this life, solitude and silence with Him are essential so that you can simply “be” with Him. Practically speaking, this might be best accomplished by taking time each day to close your eyes, enter into your soul, acknowledge the presence of God within you, and then just be with Him, there, in the depths of your soul. Saint Teresa of Ávila referred to this as the “prayer of recollection.”
Ponder the fact that solitude is for communion with God and with others. Solitude enables us to unite ourselves with God and others on a profound and deep level. As you think about Jesus being alone in the desert, ponder the fact that, in His solitude and silence, He was deeply united to His Father. His example teaches us that we, too, must seek out love and union with God and with others in solitude, allowing the language of silence to communicate the deepest truths of love.
PRAYER
My Lord of solitude, within the silence of the desert, Your holy solitude enabled You to rest fully in communion with Your Father in Your humanity. It was there that You continued to offer Your humanity to the Father and to live as One. Please draw me closer to You and to Your Father within the solitude of my life. Help me to be committed to time every day when all I do is be with You. I love You, my Lord. Help me to love You more.
Pray for me, dear Mother. Jesus, I trust in You.
Source: mycatholiclife