She became Queen of Heaven standing silently at the Foot of the Cross watching her Precious Son die.
I have been reflecting on my life. There are good and challenging things in my life right now and I have been reflecting on what that really means in my life.
You see, when things are not going according to plan I tend to think and think and think about it. And today, I compare that thinking to the thoughts of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Blessed Virgin experienced many things that did not go according to any plan that a human could have imagined. She conceived a Child, who was God Himself, by the Power of the Holy Spirit. She gave birth not at home but in a stable far away from her home. She married a man who she did not have a physical relationship with. She followed her Son in His nomadic life. And when the time came for Him to die, she stood in silence and waited for His death to occur.
And I have been reflecting on what that really means… You see, it means that the Blessed Virgin PERFECTLY accepted the Holy Will of God in her life. And she accepted that with PERFECT faith. And that really means that she did not resist the happenings of her life. When her Son was arrested she accepted that without any fight, because she had perfect faith that if her Son was not supposed to be arrested according to the Holy Will of God, then He would not have been arrested.
And that means that the Holy Will of God in the life of Christ and His Blessed Mother did not look HOLY at all. It looked like injustice and unfairness and difficulty and challenges and heartbreak. And accepting that Will of God looked like silence and surrender…
Saint Josemaria said, ‘God is not removing you from your environment. He is not taking you away from the world, or from your condition in life, or from your noble human ambitions, or from your professional work... But he wants you to be a saint – right there!" (“The Forge”, 362).
And I have been thinking about that today. For the Blessed Virgin became Queen of Heaven right there in her kitchen listening to her Son’s plans for travel. She became the Queen of Heaven, following the rules that made her travel far form home to give birth in a stable. She became Queen of Heaven standing silently at the Foot of the Cross watching her Precious Son die.
And so really what I am trying to say, is that the Blessed Virgin became Queen of Heaven by accepting – unresisting – whatever occurred in the world, because she knew with perfect faith that only the things that God Willed and Allowed could occur.
And it occurs to me today that I should practice a little more of the tranquillity of the Virgin, because that is the only true way of having faith… Right here. Right here in my life…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.