Mary knew Jesus would be spoken against, Mary: Day 221

Mary knew Jesus would be spoken against

St. Alphonsus explains how St. Simeon’s prophecy was fulfilled that Jesus would be spoken against.

St. Simeon said to Mary in the temple: “Behold, this Child is set . . . for a sign that is spoken against” (Lk 2:34). It was revealed to St. Teresa that even though the Blessed Mother already knew that the life of her Son would be sacrificed for the salvation of the world, at this time she learned more specifically and in greater detail the sufferings and cruel death that awaited her poor Son. She knew that he would be spoken against, and this in every way.

He would be spoken against in his teaching. Instead of being believed, he would be considered a blasphemer for teaching that he was the Son of God. This was what the impious Caiaphas declared him to be when he said: “He has uttered blasphemy . . . he deserves death” (Mt 26:65–66). He was spoken against in his reputation. For he was of noble, even royal, descent, yet he was despised as a peasant: “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (Mt 13:55). He was wisdom itself, yet he was treated as ignorant: “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” (Jn 7:15). He was considered a madman: “He is mad, why listen to him?” (Jn 10:20).

They thought him a drunkard, a glutton, and a friend of sinners (see Lk 7:34); a sorcerer (Mt 9:34); a heretic, and possessed by an evil spirit (Jn 8:48). In a word, Jesus was considered so notoriously wicked that, as the Jews said to Pilate, no trial was necessary to condemn him: “If this man were not an evildoer, we would not have handed him over” (Jn 18:30). In short, Jesus was spoken against and persecuted in his body and in his life. For he was tortured in all his sacred limbs: in his hands, his feet, his face, his head, and in his whole body. Drained of his blood, an object of scorn, he died of torments on a shameful cross. —St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .
Am I ever spoken against because of my Catholic faith or moral standards?
Do I take consolation in knowing that both Jesus and Mary were spoken against for doing the will of God?

CLOSING PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I will “rejoice and be glad” when others “utter all kinds of evil against” me on your account (see Mt 5:11–12).

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