The Basilica della Santa Casa (English: Basilica of the Holy House) is a Marian shrine in Loreto, in the Marches, Italy. The basilica is known for enshrining the house in which the Blessed Virgin Mary is believed by some Catholics to have lived. Pious legends claim the same house was flown over by angelic beings from Nazareth to Tersatto (Trsat in Croatia), then to Recanati, before arriving at the current site.
The basilica is also known for enshrining the Madonna and Child image of “Our Lady of Loreto”. Pope Benedict XV designated the religious image as patroness of air passengers and auspicious travel on 24 March 1920. Pope Pius XI granted a Canonical Coronation to the venerated image of made of Cedar of Lebanon on 5 September 1922, replacing the original Marian image consumed in fire on 23 February 1921.
Isa 40:1-11
Mt 18:12-14
“..it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”
It is never a good feeling to be left out or left behind. I am certain no one hopes to be the odd one out, nor to be excluded and miss out on a good thing. I know I don’t. However, this experience can be more than just a negative feeling. It can turn to good for our growth and maturity, if we offer this up to our Lord.
Last year, I wrote a reflection about embarking on a silent retreat which I had to back out of and make the necessary cancellation calls with a very heavy heart. It took me a few hours to process my denial and disappointment. I had to accept my physical discomfort and understand that I could not reasonably do a retreat in a foreign land while being so sick. I was also advised by the retreat team to stay back at home to recover. Frankly, I felt really let down by God. I had prayed so hard to be protected from illness (despite caring for sick family members) and I truly expected God to help me make it to my retreat. God should know I was doing this for Him, right?
When I informed my travel companions that I would not be turning up, I truly felt like I was being left behind. I felt like that one lost sheep who’d gone off-track and I was grieving what I might miss out on. Why me and why, of all times, then?
Well, the second Week of Advent isn’t focused on ‘Peace’ without good reason. After struggling with my disbelief then disappointment, I asked myself an honest question: Would God not turn up to be with me in my sick bed if I did not show up at the retreat? Was God only going to be present for the others at the retreat and forget all about me?
I knew in my head that the answer was, “Of course not!” But my heart took a while to catch up in feelings. As I closed my eyes to absorb the reality of staying home and allowing my tired body to rest in bed, a great sense of peace and surrender flooded my being. The tensed thoughts of ‘fighting against’ my illness melted away as I accepted that this place right here was where I am meant to be. The first reading of Isaiah 40:1-11 says:
”A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness
a way for the Lord
Make a straight highway for our God
across the desert.
Let every valley be filled in,
every mountain and hill be laid low.
Let every cliff become a plain,
and the ridges a valley;
then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed
and all mankind shall see it;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
[…]
Go up on a high mountain,
joyful messenger to Zion…
Shout without fear… ‘Hear is your God.’
Here is the Lord coming with power,
his arm subduing all things to him…
He is like a shepherd feeding his flock,
gathering lambs in his arms,
holding them against his breast
and leading to their rest the mother ewes.”
Rest, my child, rest up. Said the Lord to me, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). On the surface, it appeared that I was no longer going for the retreat (that I badly wanted).
But with eyes of faith and surrender, I finally admitted that God truly knew what I needed. He was not leaving me behind and only caring for the 99 sheep in the fold. In fact, He was meeting me (my whole self, body, mind, and soul) where I was, right here, in my sickness and inability to go anywhere. He was there with me! But I only saw this clearly when I finally surrendered my own stubborn wishes to go away. “… it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.” (Matthew 18:14)
I know, I am always and already His, no matter where I go. And foolish as it may now seem, I did subconsciously reduce my God-experience to only the ‘event’ of the retreat, which I thought I needed and wanted. I was relieved to be ‘stuck’ at home and recuperating on my ‘home retreat’. I rested abundantly and the bodily discomfort ironically liberated my mind and spirit to rest in Him.
Could you, like me, also be drawing a fence around the way that God should show up for you? Could this fence of expectations be keeping you outside the fold, instead of opening up your heart to Him, wherever, whenever?
(Today’s OXYGEN by Debbie Loo)
Prayer: Father, help me to shed my biases about where and how I can seek you. Come to me and save me from the fences I have built around my stubborn desires. Help me to see clearly that You are already always with me.
Thanksgiving: Thank you for never leaving me behind. Thank you for always meeting me wherever I am.
OXYGEN 
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