The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today inspire contemplation on the action associated with Love and Intimacy.
The Song of Songs has been read as a sublime portrayal and praise of the mutual love of the Lord and his people. Mary is a believer whose faith stands in contrast to the disbelief of Zechariah in the Gospel from Luke. Christian writers have interpreted the Song of Songs in terms of the union between Christ and the Church and of the union between Christ and the individual soul, particularly in the writings of Origen and St. Bernard.
He notes a tradition that John the Baptist was free of sin after he pointed, in the womb, to Jesus as the Messiah.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, builds on the connected lovers in the Scripture texts today to explore the Home of Love in our mutual presence or intimacy that is the ultimate goal of the spiritual journey.
#Morning #prayer#Visitation#MaryandElizabeth— SrStFrancisHolyCross (@gbfranciscans) December 21, 2017
Mary set out with haste to the hill country where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. pic.twitter.com/hau3I86x55
The Song of Songs has been read as a sublime portrayal and praise of the mutual love of the Lord and his people. Mary is a believer whose faith stands in contrast to the disbelief of Zechariah in the Gospel from Luke. Christian writers have interpreted the Song of Songs in terms of the union between Christ and the Church and of the union between Christ and the individual soul, particularly in the writings of Origen and St. Bernard.
[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.Mary has a role as believer in the infancy narrative in Luke’s Gospel.
[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).Scott McClure describes Mary as our model for waiting and proclaiming the greatness of the Lord.
The Christian life is one of waiting. In fact, among all that faith requires waiting is, perhaps, comparatively underrated in its difficulty. And it truly can be difficult. But while waiting may be part of the Christian life, it is not done passively. For the Christian, waiting is accompanied by preparation and this preparation is done based upon a promise, God’s promise of His Son.Ginny Kubitz Moyer summarizes the importance of Mary to Christians as she is described in the Gospel from Luke.
Luke’s portrayal of Mary shows her to be an active, faithful, thoughtful woman. She embraces God’s unexpected plan for her life. She puts aside her own comfort to visit her cousin. She celebrates the Jewish ritual of the Presentation of her son. She goes through the terror of temporarily losing Jesus. Luke also gives us the beautiful verse about how “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” (2:19), which is a rare Scriptural look into the mind of a mother. By sharing these stories, Luke appears to emphasize the importance of Mary in God’s plan of salvation. Mary is not someone to mention in passing, but someone who exemplifies the conscious, active faith that we all strive to achieve.Don Schwager meditates on Joyful Anticipation of the Messiah and concludes the Lord wants to fill each of us with his Holy Spirit.
When Elizabeth greeted Mary and recognized the Messiah in Mary's womb they were filled with the Holy Spirit and with a joyful anticipation of the fulfillment of God's promise to give a Savior. What a marvelous wonder for God to fill not only Elizabeth's heart with his Holy Spirit but the child in her womb as well. John the Baptist, even before the birth of the Messiah, pointed to his coming and leaped for joy in the womb of his mother as the Holy Spirit revealed to him the presence of the King to be born. The Lord wants to fill each of us with his Holy SpiritThe 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. Do you live in the joy and knowledge of God's indwelling presence with you through his Holy Spirit?Mary Ortwein looks at her to do list and suggests that now is a good time to pick, prune, and postpone while considering that Mary went to help her cousin as part of God’s economy and acting for the common good.
"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
One way to think of God’s economy is through the Catholic social teaching of “the common good.” The Common Good is discussed in sections 1905-1912 of the Catholic catechism. Generally, it is defined as “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.” (1906)Friar Jude Winkler compares the journey of the lover in the Song of Songs to lover Mary going into the hill country to greet Elizabeth.
The catechism and Church Social Teaching usually speak of the Common Good in terms of social conditions for groups in society and individuals within those groups. It notes that respect for each individual, stability within the group, and general conditions of peace are required as foundations for the Common Good.
He notes a tradition that John the Baptist was free of sin after he pointed, in the womb, to Jesus as the Messiah.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, builds on the connected lovers in the Scripture texts today to explore the Home of Love in our mutual presence or intimacy that is the ultimate goal of the spiritual journey.
If you are already at home in love, you will easily and quickly go to the home of love, which is what we mean by heaven. God doesn’t keep anybody from heaven. But some people are not choosing heaven. If you don’t want a trusting relationship of love now, why would you want one later? We must be honest with ourselves.Going beyond ritual and mental constructs of our connectedness to others, we seek intimacy that is beyond words in which the Holy Spirit leads us to eternal fellowship.
In third grade, the nuns told me that heaven would be looking at God, at a “beatific vision,” for all eternity. As a child, this sounded quite boring to me. But now that I’ve had experiences of deep love and union with God, I am enthralled with the possibility of infinite life and love. It must be a state of constant growth and newness since love is infinitely good, “the greatest” of the things that last (1 Corinthians 13:13).
References
(n.d.). Song of Songs, chapter 2. Retrieved December 21, 2017, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/songofsongs/2
(n.d.). Luke, chapter 1 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 21, 2017, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/1
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved December 21, 2017, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
(2011, June 13). How does the Gospel of Luke depict Mary? | Busted Halo. Retrieved December 21, 2017, from http://bustedhalo.com/questionbox/how-does-the-gospel-of-luke-depict-mary
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 21, 2017, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
(n.d.). A Catholic Moment – Daily Mass Readings and Reflections. Retrieved December 21, 2017, from http://www.acatholic.org/
(n.d.). Fr. Jude's Daily Reflection – Companions of St. Anthony. Retrieved December 21, 2017, from http://www.companionsofstanthony.org/pray/reflections/
(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 21, 2017, from https://cac.org/richard-rohr/daily-meditations/daily-meditations-archive/
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