The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today encourage us to look beyond the cares and distractions of today to the joy of humble acceptance of the Presence of Christ in our lives.
Looking for Love and Joy
An alternate reading from the Prophet Zephaniah is a Song of Joy. The reading from the Song of Songs is a Springtime Rhapsody.
* [2:8–13] In this sudden change of scene, the woman describes a rendezvous and pictures her lover hastening toward her dwelling until his voice is heard calling her to him.1
Psalm 33 proclaims the Greatness and Goodness of God.
* [Psalm 33] A hymn in which the just are invited (Ps 33:1–3) to praise God, who by a mere word (Ps 33:4–5) created the three-tiered universe of the heavens, the cosmic waters, and the earth (Ps 33:6–9). Human words, in contrast, effect nothing (Ps 33:10–11). The greatness of human beings consists in God’s choosing them as a special people and their faithful response (Ps 33:12–22).2
In the Gospel of Luke, Mary Visits Elizabeth.
* [1:45] Blessed are you who believed: Luke portrays Mary as a believer whose faith stands in contrast to the disbelief of Zechariah (Lk 1:20). Mary’s role as believer in the infancy narrative should be seen in connection with the explicit mention of her presence among “those who believed” after the resurrection at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:14).3
Scott McClure comments that today's readings take the notion of our pursuit and remind us of an important Truth - a 'capital T' truth: God pursues us.
Here, in today's Gospel, I believe we are Elizabeth in her humility that the mother of my Lord should come to me. I believe we are John the Baptist leaping for joy in Elizabeth's womb. As Jesus' birth nears, let us remember that Jesus comes to us, seeks us, pursues us. Therefore, let us arise. Let us leap for joy!4
Don Schwager quotes “John prophecies from the womb,” by Maximus of Turin (died between 408-423 AD).
"Not yet born, already John prophesies and, while still in the enclosure of his mother's womb, confesses the coming of Christ with movements of joy - since he could not do so with his voice. As Elizabeth says to holy Mary, 'As soon as you greeted me, the child in my womb exulted for joy.' John exults, then, before he is born. Before his eyes can see what the world looks like, he can recognize the Lord of the world with his spirit. In this regard, I think that the prophetic phrase is appropriate: 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came forth from the womb I sanctified you' (Jeremiah 1:5). Thus we ought not to marvel that after Herod put him in prison, he continued to announce Christ to his disciples from his confinement, when even confined in the womb he preached the same Lord by his movements." (excerpt from SERMON 5.4)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 1:39-45 considers what attitudes of the heart helped Elizabeth recognize and rejoice in the coming of the Messiah. Elizabeth was both prayerful and open to the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth focused on the people around her. We might expect her to draw attention to herself and her own pregnancy when Mary arrived—especially given Elizabeth’s long struggle with infertility. We see Elizabeth’s humility as she wonders why she was chosen for so great an honor as to have the mother of her Lord both visit her and choose to stay with her for three months (Luke 1:43).
In these next few days before Christmas, try going outside of yourself as Elizabeth did. Be alert to the Lord’s presence, both in the silence of your prayer and in the people around you. Humbly receive Jesus, both in the manger and in the Eucharist. Believe that as you open your heart to him, he will fill you with his joy. “Lord, like Mary and Elizabeth, help me to rejoice at your coming this Christmas.”6
Friar Jude Winkler notes how the dove (symbol of love) and springtime (the season of love) accompany the longing for the beloved in the Song of Songs. The hill country around Ein Karem, from where David retrieves the Ark, is connected to Mary as the new Ark of the Covenant. Friar Jude is reminded of Mother Teresa's reflection on John the Baptist by the text from the Gospel today.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Anglican mystic and author Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941), who shares her perspective on the importance of Jesus’ incarnation and this season in the church’s life.
The Christmas Mystery has two parts: the Nativity and the Epiphany. A deep instinct made the Church separate these two feasts. In the first we commemorate God’s humble entrance into human life, the emergence and birth of the Holy, and in the second its manifestation to the world, the revelation of the Supernatural made in that life. And the two phases concern our inner lives very closely too. The first only happens in order that the second may happen, and the second cannot happen without the first. Christ is a Light to lighten the Gentiles as well as the Glory of His people Israel. Think of what the Gentile was when these words were written—an absolute outsider. All cosy religious exclusiveness falls before that thought. The Light of the world is not the sanctuary lamp in your favourite church. . . .Beholding His Glory is only half our job. In our souls too the mysteries must be brought forth; we are not really Christians till that has been done. “The Eternal Birth,” says [Meister] Eckhart, “must take place in you.” [1] And another mystic says human nature is like a stable inhabited by the ox of passion and the ass of prejudice; animals which take up a lot of room and which I suppose most of us are feeding on the quiet. And it is there between them, pushing them out, that Christ must be born and in their very manger He must be laid—and they will be the first to fall on their knees before Him. Sometimes Christians seem far nearer to those animals than to Christ in His simple poverty, self-abandoned to God.7
The joy of the Christmas season is an opportunity for reflection on our openness to how Jesus pursues us in love.
Reflections
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