“We fear not, though the earth be shaken” (Ps.45:3)
Fr. Campbell
Where
do we find a safe place in these times, when true religion is despised,
when wars loom on the horizon, and natural disasters occur virtually on
a daily basis? Perhaps we see the ominous signs spoken about by Our
Lord, and we need a safe place to hide.
Now
people go to great lengths to find themselves a safe place, perhaps a
safe part of the country, or a cabin in the wilderness, or just a dugout
in the back yard,. But most of us don’t have the means or the money to
build ourselves a fortress. Perhaps we don’t even have a back yard.
Those who are in the inside track will have access to underground
strongholds, as perhaps in Denver, where they think they will be safe
when the worst happens.
But what about those who are left behind? The psalms give us the answer:
“God
is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress.
Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken and mountains plunge
into the depths of the sea; though the waters rage and foam and the
mountains quake at its surging. The Lord of hosts is with us; our
stronghold is the God of Jacob” (Ps.45:2-4).
God sends His holy angels to protect His faithful flock:
“No
evil shall befall you, nor shall affliction come near your tent, for to
his angels he has given command about you, that they guard you in all
your ways. Upon their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your
foot against a stone” (Ps.90:10,11).
But
Our Lord Jesus Christ has outdone Himself in giving us His own Mother,
Mary, as our Advocate and Protector. In the Gospel according St. John,
Mary’s name is not given, but she is twice called “Woman”. And John does
not name himself, but calls himself “the disciple”. In this way we are
all invited to see ourselves as “the disciple”, and to receive Mary as
our Mother. St. John reports:
“When
Jesus, therefore, saw his mother and the disciple standing by, whom he
loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold thy son.’ Then he said to
the disciple, ‘Behold, thy mother’” (Jn.19:26,27).
The Church hears the voice of Mary echoing in the words of the psalm:
“So
now, O children, listen to me; instruction and wisdom do not reject!
Happy the man who obeys me, and happy those who keep my ways, happy the
man watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts; for he who
finds me finds life, and wins favor from the Lord” (Prov.8:32-35).
The
saints were extravagant in their praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Mary was the greatest of all human beings, light years ahead of the rest
of us with the single exception of her Son, Jesus. But we do not speak
of Jesus Christ as a “human being” since He was, is, a Divine Being, the
Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, who took upon Himself our human
nature. Therefore Mary was the greatest human being from the first
moment of her conception.
Mary
conceived the Son of God, Jesus Christ, when she said to the Archangel
Gabriel, “Be it done unto me according to thy word,” She set out “in
haste” to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, who exclaimed, inspired by the
Holy Ghost:
“Blessed
art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb! And how have
I deserved that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold,
the moment that the sound of thy greeting came to my ears, the babe in
my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who has believed, because the
things promised her by the Lord shall be accomplished” (Lk.1:42b-45).
This
was the first recorded instance of Mary’s intercession, as the miracle
of John’s vivification in his mother’s womb was performed by Our Lord
through the mediating words of Mary to Elizabeth. The other best example
of Mary’s intercession was at the wedding feast at Cana (Jn2:1-12).
When Mary said to her Son, “They have no wine,” Jesus said to her, “What
wouldst thou have me do, Woman? My hour has not yet come?” Mary simply
turned to the wine steward and said, “Do whatever he tells you!” It
seems she was accustomed to having her requests fulfilled by her Son. It
is still so, now that she is with Him in Heaven.
But
don’t have a “Mother Church” anymore? She has been eclipsed; she is on
the Cross like Jesus was. In the eyes of the world the Catholic Church
is dying, or already dead, and many who call themselves Catholic seem to
agree. Novus Ordo “Catholics” are dropping out in a hurry. Churches are
closing; vocations are in steep decline. Our Lord lamented, “When the
Son of Man comes, will he find, do you think, faith on the earth?”
(Lk.18:8).
The
Holy Catholic Church will rise again more glorious than ever. And we
still have our Mother, Mary, who will crush the head of the serpent.
That the Woman will crush the head of the serpent (the devil) is
prophesied in the first book of the Bible:
“I
will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her
seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel”
(Gen.3:15). Protestant and Novus Ordo editions of the Bible state that
it is the Son of the Woman who crushes the head of the serpent.
But an amazing confirmation of this prophecy of the Woman crushing the
serpent’s head is anticipated on September 23rd and 24th
of this year, when the constellation Virgo (the Virgin) rises in the
morning sky over the city of Jerusalem. And lurking below her right
foot…, yes, “the head of the serpent”.
