The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to contemplate and act on the prompting of the Spirit to awaken our community to the Presence of the Love of Christ.
The 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. (Song of Songs, CHAPTER 2, n.d.)
Psalm 33 praises 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). (Psalms, PSALM 33, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Luke, Mary visits Elizabeth.
* [1:43] Even before his birth, Jesus is identified in Luke as the Lord.
* [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). (Luke, CHAPTER 1, n.d.)
Mary Lee Brock comments that today’s readings invite us to pray with love and joy. The beautiful imagery from Song of Songs reminds us to be open to the gift of God’s love: “Let me see you, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and you are lovely.” The invitation to love is present in the other suggested first reading from Zephaniah. This season of love recalls another familiar prayer, Fall in Love, by Joseph Whelen, SJ and often attributed to Pedro Arrupe, SJ.
Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in Love in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.
It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in Love, stay in love, and it will decide everything. (Brock, n.d.)
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) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on the Song of Songs 2:8-14 comments that scholars have suggested that the romantic love between the man and woman in this book is symbolic of the love between God and his people. This may seem odd at first, but the Bible often uses married, romantic love as an analogy for our union with God (Isaiah 62:5; Jeremiah 2:2; Matthew 25:1-13).
When we think of Jesus’ time among us, we tend to focus on his sufferings. He dealt with poverty, rejection, ridicule, and a painful death. But another side of this story emerges when you imagine Jesus as the lover in today’s first reading: a young man springing across mountains and hills in his eagerness to be with you. He sees your sins and your struggles, but he also sees the beauty of God’s image in you and your potential for holiness. His love for you isn’t muted. It bursts forth, like the sun rising over a distant mountain. It’s always flowing, like a rushing river. And it’s meant for you.
As Christmas approaches, remember that Jesus is running eagerly toward you, his heart full of love. He will never stop pursuing you.
“Jesus, thank you for your faithful, persistent love.” (Meditation on the Song of Songs 2:8-14, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler notices the energy and vitality of the lover in the Song of Songs. The dove in the Hebrew and Christian Testament is a sign of love, rather than peace. The emphasis of Luke on people getting along is connected to the idea of Elizabeth as kin of Mary. The journey of Mary to Elizabeth is likely to have been from Bethlehem to Ein_Karem. Friar Jude cites the observation of Saint Mother Teresa that an unborn baby is the first to recognize Jesus.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, speaks of the surprising nature of Incarnation. We find God in all the places we don’t expect.
Where is this God being revealed? Not in the safe world, but at the edge, at the bottom, among those where we don’t want to find God, where we don’t look for God, where we don’t expect God. The way we’ve created Christianity, it seems like it’s all about being nice, pretty, middle class, “normal” and under the law. Here we have in the Gospel stories Jesus, Mary, and Joseph being none of those things. It might just be telling us we should be looking elsewhere. [1] (Rohr, 2014)
Writer and organizer Kelley Nikondeha describes how the context of Jesus’ birth demonstrates God’s Incarnation amongst those who suffer and are oppressed.
The advent narratives demand we take the political and economic world of Roman Palestine seriously. The Gospel writers named the empires of Caesar and Herod not for dramatic effect; they didn’t mention a census or massacre for literary flourish. The Gospel writers used contextual markers to describe in concrete ways the turmoil of the times that hosted the first advent.
It is this very context that makes the advent narratives contemporary—whether in Israel-Palestine or lands beyond. Our troubled times, shaped by all manner of injustice, cause continued suffering, making the loud cries of lament and cries for peace timely, as they are answered by advent. . . .
The Incarnation positions Jesus among the most vulnerable people, the bereft and threatened of society. The first advent shows God wrestling with the struggles common to many the world over. And from this disadvantaged stance, Jesus lives out God’s peace agenda as a counter-testimony to Caesar’s peace.
This is the story of advent: we join Jesus as incarnations of God’s peace on this earth for however long it takes. God walks in deep solidarity with humanity, sharing in our sufferings and moments of hope. Amid our hardship, God is with us. Emmanuel remains the name on our lips in troubled times. [2] (Rohr, 2014)
We look more deeply at the narratives of Presence and Nativity in Advent time and realize the depth of the love in which we are called to live.
References
Brock, M. L. (n.d.). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved December 21, 2022, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/122122.html
Luke, CHAPTER 1. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved December 21, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/1?39
Meditation on the Song of Songs 2:8-14. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved December 21, 2022, from https://wau.org/meditations/2022/12/21/558073/
Psalms, PSALM 33. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved December 21, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/33?2
Rohr, R. (2014, April 16). Incarnation at the Edge. YouTube. Retrieved December 21, 2022, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/incarnation-at-the-edge-2022-12-21
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 21, 2022, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2022&date=dec21
Song of Songs, CHAPTER 2. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved December 21, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/songofsongs/2?8
No comments:
Post a Comment