Ave Maria Meditations
God’s greatest work, the Incarnation of the Word, destined to enlighten and save the whole world, takes place in obscurity and silence, and under the most humble and most human conditions. Caesar’s edict obliges Mary and Joseph to leave their little home in Nazareth and undertake a journey. They travel on foot like the poor, in spite of the discomfort of Mary’s condition. They do not think of objecting to the trip; they make no complaint but obey with promptness and simplicity.
And they go, trusting in God’s providence: God knows, God will provide. In Bethlehem there is no room for them; they are obliged to take shelter in a hillside cave. The poverty of this refuge for animals does not dismay or scandalize them. They know that the Child about to be born is the Son of God; but they also know that God’s works are entirely different from man’s. And if God wishes His greatest work to be accomplished here in this wretched stable in utter poverty, Mary and Joseph embrace His will…
Mary and Joseph are extremely humble; hence they are docile and filled with faith in God. And God, as is His custom, made use of what is humble and despicable in the eyes of the world to accomplish the greatest of His works: the Incarnation of the Word.
+Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen
