Word and Work in the Womb
What happened when the old dispensation (Elizabeth) met the new dispensation of grace (Mary)? The child within the womb of Elizabeth “leaped for joy.” Has it ever happened before this or after this that children within the womb communicated. Was it telepathy? No, it was the action of the Holy Ghost which established the mission of each of these souls within their mother’s womb. Each one of us must pass through three wombs to achieve the Beatific Vision of God. Let us consider these womb experiences and apply them to our spiritual journey.
In the first womb experience, your mother and father came together in the marital union in order to make their love for one another concrete in the baby. As soon as your mother knew she was carrying this incarnation of their love she treasured every moment of your development within her. You daily accepted the nourishment through the umbilical cord. You responded to her joy by kicking those little feet against the mother’s womb. What joy you brought to those who were privileged to place their hands on the mother’s womb and experience the life within. It was a mysterious moment for all who recognized that new life was contained within a mother’s womb until the nine months were completed. The child within established its sleeping patterns, its first activities in that watery world. Finally, the child (you and I) were born into another greater womb.
From the watery world of mom’s womb (H2O) we now began to function by means of oxygen (02). We have been given a new womb called society and a new challenge = the development of an eternal life. Throughout our life in this world we will be tested in order to develop virtue. The goal of all this examination is to form the saintly personality that is capable of coming before God in a purity of conscience and an oil of works of Mercy. In order for all of this to happen we must pass through the Womb of Divine Life through our Baptism. Unlike the baptism of penance that John the Baptist proclaimed, our baptism is the special womb which God uses to incorporate ourselves into the Mystical Body of Christ.
Now the two wombs ought to collaborate with each other. Society ought to recognize its dependence upon the goal of its citizenship. The State ought to be subordinate to God and His will. If society admits its dependence upon the Triune God for its existence then the soul seekers its true end will be aided in its quest for holiness. Leon Bloy in his significant work, The Woman Who Was Poor, concludes with the line: “The saddest thing is that we do not become the saints that God wants us to be.” We fail to recognize the womb experience resulting from our baptism. We wallow in the womb of the world with no purpose. We fail to reflect that we must be “born again” in the Holy Ghost. Consider the joy with which John the Baptist recognized his mission from Jesus. He was the voice crying in the wilderness make straight the path of the Lord.
That’s it. Make straight the path of the Lord. Let the womb cause us to leap for joy for we have been given life in order to increase in Love. Like our Lady we too will proclaim the greatness of the Lord Who has looked upon each of us in our lowliness. One day the womb of this world will completely yield to the womb begun in baptism and we shall die to this world in order to be born into eternal life if we have run the course and stayed to fight. Our perseverance will bring about the reward which alone can satisfy our hungry hearts for we will see our Lord face to face for all eternity. What a glorious birthday that will be for each of us. Let us not hesitate to encourage this death by our self-denial and our mortification.
May St. John the Baptist, our Blessed Mother and all the saints of heaven shower their special aid to each of us in our quest for their companionship.
In the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Fr. Richard Voigt, S.D.B.
Comments are closed.