The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today inspire joy as we anticipate our celebration of Jesus Incarnation in a few days.
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| Anticipating Christmas joy |
The reading from the Prophet Zephaniah is a Song of Joy over the restoration of the nation.
Shout for joy, daughter Zion!sing joyfully, Israel!Be glad and exult with all your heart,daughter Jerusalem! h (see ZECHARIAHChapter 9)1
Our heart is glad in him is the declaration of Psalm 33.
* [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
Mary Visits Elizabeth in the Gospel of Luke.
* [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
Jay Carney, of Creighton University's Theology Department, cites the Qur’an, “God is already closer to us than our jugular vein (Surah 50:16),” as he declares that God desires to be united with us. In the marvelous miracle of the Incarnation, God partakes in our very flesh in the human person of Jesus Christ. Carney is inspired by the alternate first reading “Springtime Rhapsody” from the Song of Songs 2:8-14.
This should be a cause for great joy, the kind of exhilaration that inspires Elizabeth and her unborn baby to leap and shout … or even the delight that causes a young man in love to take his eye off the ball. May your heart skip a beat this Christmas.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 from Luke 1:39-45 comments that whereas most pregnant women would avoid strenuous activity, Mary dove right in. She had to go see her cousin! In her book The Reed of God, British writer Caryll Houselander explains Mary’s thinking.
“Elizabeth was going to have a child, too, and although Mary’s own child was God, she could not forget Elizabeth’s need—almost incredible to us, but characteristic of her.” So off she went.
What happened next seems as if it was a gift from God to honor Mary’s generosity and unselfishness. At the sound of her voice, the infant John leapt in Elizabeth’s womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in joy. Through these two faith-filled women, life called out to life and filled both of them with gladness and expectant hope.
As Advent draws to a close, try to take a cue from our Blessed Mother. Think about making a “visitation” of your own by reaching out to someone who is lonely or hurting or in need of some help. It may not be a convenient or easy thing to do, but neither was Mary’s visit to Elizabeth.6
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the symbol of Love in the Hebrew Testament, the dove, as mentioned in the Song of Songs. Kiryat Ye'arim in the Judean hills is a geographic connection between Mary and the Ark of the Covenant. Friar Jude reminds us of the depth of joy being in the place where God intends us to be. (more on the Visitation at Stories from Plummer Friday, May 31, 2019 Rich and revealing).
More and more Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, is convinced that when the great medieval spiritual teachers talked so much about attachment, they were really talking about addiction. We are all attached and addicted in some way. At the very least, we are addicted to our compulsive dualistic patterns of thinking, to our preferred self-image, and to the unworkable programs for happiness we first developed in childhood. In short, each of us is addicted to our way of thinking. This is perfectly obvious once we consider it, but we do not tend to think about the way we think! [1].
Reflection is a fundamental technique in each of the great religions. It essentially consists of pondering or thinking about an issue or experience in order to understand it and yourself better. As you will see, it is a vital root for developing wisdom. Here you can use it to recognize the costs of craving.
To do this, find a time and place where you can reflect quietly for several minutes without interruption. Begin by thinking of one of the more powerful attachments running your life. It might for example, be for nicotine or a fancy car. Then consider all the time and energy that go into acquiring it. Reflect on the effort and money that you sacrifice. Recall the painful emotions that accompany it such as anger at people who stand in your way, depression when you feel hopeless about getting what you crave, and worry about losing it once you have it.
Simply allow these costs and any accompanying insights to come into awareness. There is no need to force any particular insights to emerge, and there is certainly no need to judge or condemn yourself for having the attachment. Self-condemnation and self-attack only leave us feeling more deficient and therefore more prone to cling to the illusory consolations of our attachments. The aim of this reflection, and of all reflection, is to understand, not to condemn. [2]7
Through the joy of Christmas, God with us, we reflect on those attachments that may draw us away from the complete joy of being where God intends us to be.
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