Women witness the Way

Daughter Zion, Judith, Mary and Elizabeth are the personages in the texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary. They are all female and they all play a role in the understanding of the desire and action of God to be with humanity. The text from the Prophet Zachariah addresses the people of Israel as Daughter Zion. The Lord is related to the people as Father and He will restore the family relationship with them. The responsorial canticle today, in Canada,  is from the final verses of the Book of Judith where the Jews praise God for the opportunity and the strength for action given Judith to take advantage of a provident situation to ward off destruction of the Jewish community by the Assyrian conquerers. The Gospel from Luke tells of Mary journeying with haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth, an older woman who was now amazingly pregnant. Mary radiates the Love of God which she carries in her action to be with Elizabeth and bring to the child being carried by Elizabeth, who becomes the prophetic bridge between the chosen under the Law and Tradition of Moses to introduce the Immanuel for all  people. The action of Mary's being, her soul, magnifies the love and desire of God to be with humanity in the most intimate way of living within. Her Spirit is in resonance with the Holy Spirit, the Divine love, and rejoicing is the visible response. Our intimacy with God is a relationship for which we take evidence from the women who have lived it in salvation history.