Feeling unwanted, unwelcome and like a pilgrim.

 I was praying the 7 Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary today, on the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel... it is Friday, the 16th of June, in the year 2021 of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I came to this meditation from St. Alphonsus Liguori: 

Second Sorrow of Mary
The Flight of Jesus into Egypt

Meditation

Having heard that the long-awaited Messiah had been born, Herod foolishly feared that He would deprive him of his kingdom. Herod waited to hear from the holy Magi where the young King was born, and planned to take His life. When he found he had been deceived, he ordered all the infants in the neighborhood of Bethlehem to be put to death. It was at that time that the angel appeared in a dream to St. Joseph and told him: “Arise, and take the Child and His Mother, and flee into Egypt” (Mt. 2:13). No sooner is Jesus born than He is persecuted. Mary began to realize that Simeon’s prophecy regarding Her Son was beginning to be fulfilled.

What anguish the realization of the impending exile must have caused Mary. It is easy to imagine that Mary must have suffered on the journey. The distance to Egypt was considerable: three hundred miles, requiring a journey of up to thirty days. The road was rough, unknown and little travelled. It was winter time, so that they had to make their way through snow, rain and wind, over rough and dirty roads. Where could they have slept on such a journey, especially on the two hundred miles of desert? They lived in Egypt seven years. They were strangers — unknown, without money, and barely able to support themselves by the work of their hands. Landolph of Saxony has written (and let this be a consolation to the poor) that Mary lived there in such poverty that there were times when She did not have even a crust of bread to give Her Son when He was hungry. The thought of Jesus and Mary wandering as fugitives through a strange land teaches us that we must also live as pilgrims here below, detached from the material things that the world offers, and which we must soon leave to enter eternity. It also teaches us to embrace crosses, for we cannot live in this world without them. Let us make Mary happy by welcoming Her Son into our hearts, the Son whom men still continue to persecute by their sins.

I stopped at the words "impending exile" and again "No sooner is Jesus born than He is persecuted. " Something about those words struck me deeply, something about the God -Man, Jesus, and our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph, being in exile. Being unwanted, being pilgrims, in exile... and suffering at the hands of sinners, who do NOT want the Light, the Truth, The Way to be near them, and not only do they not want Him, they want Him DEAD.Pilgrims in a world that was Created by His VERY HANDS! I'm a pilgrim, but I did not create the Earth, nor the humans that inhabit it! BUT GOD DID! AND HE TOO IS IN EXILE! What should this tell us my dear friends!? If God is in exile on His own planet, we too should be in exile!!! 

At this junction of history, True, Faithful, Catholics, following Christ, His Teachings and His Church, must feel this way. Unwanted and if wanted for anything ... it's to be dead, if not physically (like in some parts of the world) then spiritually, like here in the United States. We flee from one Parish to another, from one Diocese to another, just looking for refuge, safety in Holy Mother Church, Freedom to practice our Faith, fully without being attacked mentally, spiritually or emotionally. Without being asked to conform to the pagan ideas of society today. And without these pagan ideas being forced into our minds by the teaching we are receiving. 

My heart resonates with the FLIGHT to Egypt... to the dessert, where all the Great Desert Fathers and Mothers fled to preserve the Faith, to live it fully and without interruption or confusion for the pagan influences of the world. Though, in these times, living far from the Holy Eucharist is a REAL detriment to the soul. 3 months of "lock down" last year, proved to be move painful than ever imagined. 

But something joyful and painful at the same time strikes the heart; if our Lord was unwelcome on this planet which He created, loved and paid the price for it's redemption, how can we poor, miserable, sinners who follow Jesus Christ desire a life different from His?

If they persecuted GOD... won't they too persecute us?

If God is unwanted by sinful humanity, won't we, His adopted children in Christ Jesus, too be unwanted by this same humanity that so rejects Him?

And we, in imitation of Mary, our Mother and the Mother of God, should with diligence, patience and all docile humility, accept such sufferings and MAGNIFY the Lord? Easier said than done right? But by Grace, all is possible. May we beg for the Grace to be Faithful, Hopeful and FULL of the Charity Christ died and rose to win for us! May the Holy Spirit set us on His Wings of True Love and allow us to taste the Breath Of God, that we too, may say with our Lady, "The Almighty Has done Great Things for Me!!! And Holy is His Name!" 

May our Lady of Mt. Carmel Pray for us and may we have True Devotion to Mary in a world so in need of Grace, Motherhood and authentic Catholic femininity, amen.