lowly employment, and meditate in silent admiration on this divine scene of humility. Is this a fit employment for the Lord of glory? Truly, "His work is strange to Him"! (Is. xxviii. 21.) Consider why and for whom » all this is done.
II. Christ employed Himself thus out of pure humility; for He who had assumed all the miseries of human nature, and had submitted to the general sentence of death pronounced on all mankind, submitted also to the necessity of labor — " In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread." (Gen. iii. 19.) Christ had this object also in view, viz., to teach us to avoid idleness, as the source and origin of every mischief. Imitate Him, then, and remember that " idleness hath taught much evil." (Ecclus. xxxiii. 29.)
III. What singular advantages the Blessed Virgin derived from this long and familiar conversation with her God! Imagine what divine entertainment it was for her to discourse with her Son on God and heaven. Figure to yourself the amazement of the Holy Virgin when she beholds Him employed in all the menial services of domestic life. She might well exclaim, " Oh, the depth of the riches, of the wisdom, and of the knowledge of God!" (Rom. xi. 33.) Reflect on each particular, and draw principles for your own conduct.[1]
- ↑ If there be six weeks between Epiphany and Sexagesima Sunday, make now the Meditations for the twenty- fourth week after Pentecost (page 485).
