“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.” (Luke 1:39).
We are told in the Bible that God calls us by our name, and we are His…
“He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.’” (Isaiah 43:1-7).
And I have been thinking about that and what that actually means – that calling by name…
You see, in Gensis, we are told the story of creation and we are told that first God created the thing and then He named it. And as I reflect on that, it occurs to me that right there in that is the answer… The name indicates the consciousness of creation.
My name – the name that my God has for me – was consciously assigned to me at the moment of my creation!
And that consciousness is something to consider. You see, I was created for a purpose. And that purpose was assigned only to me. My purpose may be big, and everyone will know about it one day. I have only to think of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta who was known by Catholics and non-Catholics alike for her purpose in serving the poorest of the poor. Her purpose was BIG. But what happens if my purpose is very small? What happens if the whole reason for my existence – the reason that God created me and named me – is tiny? What happens if I was born just to have a charitable conversation with one soul who I cannot even remember in and time and a place and in a manner that I did not even consider worth noting at any point in my life?
What happens if I was called by name to have a conversation in the quiet and in obscurity? What happens if God asked me to do this by calling my name? Perhaps an entire future originates from this SMALL purpose that I have been created and named to do? And what happens if I am not asking for the Grace to recognise that purpose throughout my entire life?
When the Blessed Virgin visited her cousin Elizabeth at the bequest of the Angel, she was doing a relatively small thing. Sure, it was an inconvenience to her, but for a woman who acted in perfect charity, such an inconvenience would hardly have been noteworthy. And yet, at that meeting, when the child leaped within her womb, the baptism of Saint John the Baptist occurred. And this baptism allowed Saint John the Baptist to be born without Original Sin and to receive the Grace required to perform his mission as the final Prophet of the Messiah…
“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.’” (Luke 1:39-47).
And I have been thinking about that today. Because it seems that my life is comprised of a million billion infinitesimally small things. And today, I pray for the Grace to recognise God’s Hand in every single one of them…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.