Musings that put me into amazement

Today as I ventured into my "quiet space", I started to contemplate upon the Holy Shroud of Turin.  I revisited this reflection..  a few years ago, I was so full of joy thinking about the most powerful force, the electromagnetic radiation- A BURST OF LIGHT that emitted the imprint of Jesus on the cloth.....as powerful as it was, it was gentle enough not to destroy the cloth.  This same cloth could have also been the first Eucharistic Tablecloth.  The Shroud could have been the cloth upon which He gave His Life, saying those words that prove that 'and greater works than these will you do' because the Eucharist multiplies with every mass all over the world in every hour, everyday in each generation... "We hear the words of Jesus: “Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my Body, which will be given up for you.” And soon after, “Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.”

“For the Jews, in the great solemnities, and [Passover] being the greatest of them all, it was common to use two tablecloths in a ritual way, to remember the journey through the desert after leaving Egypt. A first tablecloth on which food was deposited, was followed by a second cloth one would place on top of the plates, to prevent sand from falling into the food, as well as to keep insects at bay. [This] makes sense because Christ was buried in a rush. He died around three o’clock on a Friday afternoon, and was to be buried before approximately six o’clock on the same day, right before Sabbath began. The reasonable thing is that Joseph of Arimathea used whichever elements he had at hand, and a tablecloth of those characteristics was in fact the perfect way to shroud a body.”

(The Holy Tablecloth: Could It Be the Same One Used at the Last Supper By George Ryan)
 - August 30, 2021

    So the Shroud and the womb of the Blessed Virgin both have indelible reception of  the Word made flesh.  They both received the God/man themselves into life. Both marked with the veracity of His Incarnation...one, housed in the Virginal flesh for 9 months!  The Virgin was pleasing to God ...The angel Gabriel exclaim, "Hail full of Grace".  Blessed among all women, she was designated by God for this singular role,  from all eternity she was reserved to bear the God/man in this unique way.  It was the FATHER'S PLAN.  There wasn't a few virgins in selection, she was 'IT'.  If her fiat was not received by God, God's plan would be foiled as God foretold through the Prophets of old.  But it wasn't foiled.   Mary gave her 'yes'...and it was laced with the Elation of her Praise from her purest heart.  Apparently that joy was so overwhelmingly contagious that Elizabeth joined in as she uttered the prophetic word which proved that Mary believed, something that Zechariah did not...."blessed is she who believed that the word of the Lord would fulfill His promises to her"!!!  So Mary, Elizabeth, John and Jesus had a leaping party filled to brim with jubilation!"  (by the way, they were all prophets...and the smallest one being the King of Prophets!).  

The two are the proofs that Jesus came to life- as an infant and when Jesus resurrected from death.  Each one should be reflected with exultant triumphant praise and thanksgiving.

The cloth that was supposed to drape him in death was the one that recorded his coming back to LIFE.  The Shroud is the proof of Jesus's Victory and Satan's defeat.  This is true for Mary's womb too. (For never was there a person to be born of a virgin except the Holy One of Israel!)  All generations call Mary blessed- in fact,  the mention of Mary's womb is uttered over and over again by the faithful in the Hail Mary prayer.

How great is our God!