Expectation Of Our Lady
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Expectation is part of the joy in every happy event. Could it have been otherwise with Our Lady? Added to the quiet pleasure of being espoused to good Joseph, came the startling knowledge that her first-born would be the Messiah. The expectation of Israel, prolonged and intensified for generations, became one with Mary’s brief confinement.
There were problems, though, as every confinement of a mother oscillates from bright to dark, from joy to apprehension: So Mary’s mind could not have been a placid, unrippled sea. How was she to approach the awesome task of raising God the Son? What course would His life take?
Mary did not take her exalted role to mean that she was dispensed from human courtesies. Mary waited out the final weeks of pregnancy. Our Lady had Joseph to share her joy; the attention and devotion tendered her by him provided needed strength as the final hours drew near.
God interrupted their serenity by means of an imperial edict. The census had to be taken. Before the birth, Mary had to bear the risk of a long journey. Womanwise she knew her time would be accomplished before their return. As she packed the bands of cloth which were to swaddle the Infant, she knew that more than just a trip was in the offing. This trip would mark the end of all expectation; from that point on everything would be fulfillment, her fulfillment and ours.
