Have you ever tried to imagine how Mary must have felt as she neared the end of her pregnancy? She was aware that she was carrying the Son of the Most High, but she was also aware that she had become pregnant out of wedlock in a society where this was punishable by death. And now she and her husband were forced to travel many miles from their home to register for a census. She was in unfamiliar territory, far from family and friends, and without a suitable place to deliver her child. Whatever preparations they'd made for support, whatever supplies they'd gathered, had been left behind in order to be obedient with both the will of God and the will of the government.
How lonely she must have felt. I'd thought about Mary at the time of the Annunciation, when the angel informed her that she would bear the Christ Child. But I'd never really thought much about those last days before her child was born. That must have been at time when, more than any other, she found herself turning to God for strength and help.She may well have found herself praying words much like those of this song:
I have traveled many moonless nights
Cold and weary with a babe inside
And I wonder what I've done
Holy Father, You have come
And chosen me now to carry Your Son
I am waiting in a silent prayer
I am frightened by the load I bear
In a world as cold as stone
Must I walk this path alone?
Be with me now, be with me now
Breath of Heaven, hold me together
Be forever near me, breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven, lighten my darkness
Pour over me Your holiness for You are holy
Breath of Heaven
Do you wonder as you watch my face
If a wiser one should have had my place?
But I offer all I am
For the mercy of Your plan
Help me be strong, help me be, help me
Breath of Heaven, hold me together
Be forever near me, breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven, lighten my darkness
Pour over me Your holiness for You are holy
Breath of Heaven, hold me together
Be forever near me, breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven, lighten my darkness
Pour over me Your holiness for You are holy
Breath of Heaven, breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven
Hi Sue, I have wondered recently how she and St. Joseph must have felt after learning of King Herod's slaughtering of male babies. Much sorrow for those poor moms and dads. Holy Innocents, pray for us!
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