Take the Child and his mother, Mary: Day 227

Take the Child and his mother

St. Alphonsus insists that the Holy Family’s exile in Egypt should teach us that we, too, must live as pilgrims here on earth.

Having fled to Egypt, the Holy Family resided there. Let’s consider the great poverty they must have suffered during the seven years which, according to some teachers, they spent there. They were foreigners unknown, without reve- nues, money, or family, barely able to support themselves by their humble efforts. “As they were destitute,” says St. Basil, “it’s evident that they must have labored hard to provide themselves with the necessities of life.” In addition, Landolph of Saxony has written (and let this be a consolation for the poor), that “Mary lived there in the midst of such poverty that at times she had not even a bit of bread to give to her Son when, compelled by hunger, he asked for it.”

After the death of Herod, the angel again appeared to St. Joseph in a dream, directing him to return to Judea (see Mt 2:19–20). St. Bonaventure, speaking of this return, considers how much greater the Blessed Virgin’s sufferings must have been because Jesus had grown so much. He was then about seven years of age, so “he was too big to be carried, and not strong enough to walk without assistance.”

The sight of Jesus and Mary wandering as fugitives through the world teaches us that we also must live as pilgrims here below, detached from the goods that the world offers us, and which we must soon leave to enter eternity: “For we have here no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come” (Heb 13:14). It also teaches us to embrace crosses, for without them we cannot live in this world. Whoever wishes to feel less the sufferings of this life must go in company with Jesus and Mary: “Take the Child and his mother” (Mt 2:13). All sufferings become light, and even sweet and desirable, to him who by his love bears this Son and this Mother in his heart. Let’s love them, then; let’s console Mary by welcoming in our hearts her Son, whom men even now continue to persecute
by their sins. —St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .
When I imagine the Holy Family’s exile in Egypt, what do I think would have been the most difficult aspect of their life in a foreign land? What lessons might I learn from them about being detached from the goods of this world?

CLOSING PRAYER
Mary, how were you able to “sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land” (see Ps 137:4)?
Only because the Lord was in exile with you, and the song you sang was his lullaby.

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