Pregnant with Christ

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary on the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary challenges us to be “pregnant with Christ.”

Making the trip to visit

The Prophet Zephaniah describes the Messianic age for the residents of Judah who are being persecuted by the Assyrians.

The Gospel from Luke describes the visit of Mary, pregnant with Jesus, to her cousin Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist.

* [1:46–55] Although Mary is praised for being the mother of the Lord and because of her belief, she reacts as the servant in a psalm of praise, the Magnificat. Because there is no specific connection of the canticle to the context of Mary’s pregnancy and her visit to Elizabeth, the Magnificat (with the possible exception of v. 48) may have been a Jewish Christian hymn that Luke found appropriate at this point in his story. Even if not composed by Luke, it fits in well with themes found elsewhere in Luke: joy and exultation in the Lord; the lowly being singled out for God’s favor; the reversal of human fortunes; the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. The loose connection between the hymn and the context is further seen in the fact that a few Old Latin manuscripts identify the speaker of the hymn as Elizabeth, even though the overwhelming textual evidence makes Mary the speaker.

The Messianic Prophecy Bible Project notes that while Zephaniah does not specifically mention the Messianic King, he does draw a picture of the Messianic age.

God Himself will live among His people, bringing an end to all of their troubles: “He is a mighty Savior,” says the prophet.  (3:17)
Rashi, (Rabbi Shlomoh Ben Yitzhak), the 11th-century Jewish sage, interprets “He is a mighty savior,” as “He is a Mighty One, Who will save (Israel) from the enemy.”

Ginny Kubitz Moyer, author of the award-winning book “Mary and Me: Catholic Women Reflect on the Mother of God” asks Why does Mary do it?

Well, think about what has just happened: She’s been told that she is pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. She’s also learned that her cousin Elizabeth, believed to be too old to conceive, is expecting as well. Mary must have been bursting to talk to a woman who could personally understand her excitement, her wonder, and probably her nervousness, too.

Eileen Burke-Sullivan comments that in today’s Liturgy, the whole of salvation is revealed in the Church’s memory of the visit of a young woman to an old woman cousin. She notes the concern of Pope Francis on misinterpretation of the Incarnation.

Pope Francis, in his most recent apostolic letter on the call to holiness tells us, it is easy for us to adopt the heresy of Gnosticism, a world view within Christianity which refuses to accept the implications of the Incarnation.  ...The other grave danger that Pope Francis recently warned us against is Pelagianism. This is an attitude that we earn our own way to salvation rather than accept all creation and all our talent, resources and graces as gifts of God.

Don Schwager offers a prayer for us to appreciate that the Lord wants to fill each of us with his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God's gift to us to enable us to know and experience the indwelling presence of God and the power of his kingdom. The Holy Spirit is the way in which God reigns within each of us.

"Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit and give me joy in seeking you more earnestly. Increase my faith in all your promises, my hope in the joy of heaven, and my love for You as my All."

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 1:39-56 proposes that we all need reminders that God is with us.

We all need reminders that God is with us. We need them because we forget God’s promises. We need them because we misplace our hope in shifting circumstances. We need them because we get distracted by the cares and concerns of life.

Friar Jude Winkler provides some interesting geographical notes linking the home of Elizabeth, the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant as David was bringing it to Jerusalem and Mary as the New Ark of the Covenant. The Magnificat in the Gospel is the canticle that declares God as the agent of the reversal of fortune for the oppressed and outcast.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, asks how do we discover what is ours to do? How do we connect with our sacred vocation in service to the needs of the world? He cites the work of Henri Nouwen.

Christian discernment is not the same as decision making. Reaching a decision can be straightforward: we consider our goals and options; maybe we list the pros and cons of each possible choice; and then we choose the action that meets our goal most effectively. Discernment, on the other hand, is about listening and responding to that place within us where our deepest desires align with God’s desire. As discerning people, we sift through our impulses, motives, and options to discover which ones lead us closer to divine love and compassion for ourselves and other people and which ones lead us further away.

The young woman, Mary, filled with Jesus, leads the way for disciples of Jesus to act in response to the direction of the Holy Spirit.

References


(n.d.). Zephaniah, Chapter 3 - US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 31, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/zephaniah/3:14

(n.d.). Luke, Chapter 1 - US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 31, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/luke/1:39

(n.d.). Zephaniah: End-Time Prophet of Wrath and Restoration | Messianic .... Retrieved May 31, 2018, from http://free.messianicbible.com/feature/prophet-zephaniah/

(n.d.). Why Does Mary Visit Her Cousin Elizabeth? | Busted Halo. Retrieved May 31, 2018, from https://bustedhalo.com/ministry-resources/why-does-mary-visit-her-cousin-elizabeth

(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved May 31, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 31, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(n.d.). The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Feast) - Mass Readings and .... Retrieved May 31, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/

(2009, February 5). “We are Standing on 'Holy Ground'” at Kiriath Jearim. Retrieved May 31, 2018, from http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2009/02/e2809cWe-are-Standing-on-e28098Holy-Grounde28099e2809d-at-Kiriath-Jearim.aspx

(n.d.). Kiryat Ye'arim - Wikipedia. Retrieved May 31, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiryat_Ye%27arim

(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved May 31, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/