The Deeper Crisis: The Wall of Jerusalem is Broken Down by Camilia Murphy * Little Handmaids of Our Sorrowful Mother
Dear sisters,
The Holy Spirit continues to move me to write what he gives me
to write. I have been reading and pondering the book of Nehemiah, a Scripture
for our time. Please read this meditation, not in order to give praise to me,
but in order to receive the spiritual food that the Lord and the Blessed Mother
desire to give you.
I pray for you and your loved ones.
Cami little handmaid
The Deeper Crisis: "The Wall of Jerusalem
is Broken Down!"
Yes, I know that
the attention of the whole world is now on the Covid-19 pandemic, and for good
reason. It is, perhaps the fastest spreading virus since the 1918 Spanish flu.
In comparison with other virus epidemics, it has one of the highest death
rates. Hospitals in countries around the world are being overwhelmed by the
number of Covid-19 patients in need of intensive care. The quarantines and
lock-downs needed to try to contain the virus is severely threatening
economies.
Still, it is
important for serious Catholics not to forget about a deeper crisis, one that
threatens the eternal life of souls.
And they said to me, "The
survivors there in the province who escaped exile are in great trouble and
shame; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are
destroyed by fire."
(Nehemiah 1:3)
When I read that
verse, I thought of the beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the
wall...broken down...by fire." When I had seen the photos of
that cathedral so severely damaged, I felt deeply sad. I wept, but not for the
loss of the beautiful architecture. I wept because I knew it was a concrete
image of the invisible, tragic damage to Christ's Church, severely
damaged by Satan's fire in souls lost when they turn away from Christ and the
true teachings of His Church.
We can think of
the Church's spiritual structure as similar in a spiritual sense to the
physical structure of a cathedral. Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone of that
edifice.
So then you are no longer strangers
and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the
household of God, built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole
structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also
are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
(Ephesians 2:19-22)
Christ Jesus is the
Cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together; the apostles and
prophets the foundation, made strong by the Cornerstone of Christ. The saints
and members of the household of God are the walls built upon the firm
foundation of the Truth that is Christ.
My husband is a
knowledgeable, experienced carpenter, who, over the years, has built six
different houses for us in various places to which we moved. So I have learned
from him the importance of a firm foundation and strong, solid, steady walls.
Once the builder has
laid a firm foundation, he must construct a strong, steady frame. The frame of
the Church is the saints, with their grace-filled virtues: obedience, humility,
faithfulness, trust in God, and surrender to His will. The walls of the
Church--the members--- are strengthened by this frame.
In what way have the
walls of the Church been broken down? Sin is the root of death and destruction.
It is like a parasitical vine, not only climbing up the wall, but growing into
it, weakening it. Satan is the father of sin.
But we know that the
Church, though weakened and damaged, can never be destroyed:
" And I tell you, you are
Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of
death shall not prevail against it."
(Matthew 16:18)
How can the broken-down
walls of the Church be built up and strengthened again? St. Louis Marie de
Montfort (1673-1716), in his spiritual classic, True Devotion to the Blessed
Virgin Mary, speaks more powerfully than ever to our present generation:
“...Almighty God and His Holy Mother are to raise up great
saints who will surpass in holiness most other saints as much as the cedars of
Lebanon tower above little shrubs… the power of Mary over all the devils will
especially break out in the latter times, when Satan will lay his snares
against her heel; that is to say, her humble slaves and her poor children, whom
she will raise up to make war against him. … The formation and the education of
the great saints who will come at the end of the world are reserved to her, for
only this singular and wondrous Virgin can produce in union with the Holy
Spirit singular and wondrous things.”
We who are
consecrated to Jesus through Mary, and who are seeking to live our consecration
daily, are the Blessed Virgin Mary's humble slaves and her poor
children, raised up to make war against Satan.
The Church is the New
Jerusalem, and so I invite you to ponder the words of Jesus to the Apostle John
in Revelation 21:2-3.
And I saw the holy
city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
adorned for her Husband; and I heard a great voice from
the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with
them,
and they shall be His people,
and God himself will be with
them..."
All praise and glory to the
Lamb
who was slain!