Love and Joy

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with the joy of love and commitment to serve the needs of family and friends. 

Family Love and Joy

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.

* [2:9] Gazelle: a frequent motif in ancient poems from Mesopotamia.

* [2:14] The woman is addressed as though she were a dove in a mountain cleft out of sight and reach. (Song of Songs, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, 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 | USCCB, n.d.)

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). (Luke, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Scott McClure, (from 2017) comments that the Christian life is one of waiting. In fact, among all that faith requires waiting is, perhaps, comparatively underrated in its difficulty.

In this season of Advent, we wait with Mary for the coming of her Son.  But let us not wait passively.  Rather, let us prepare our hearts to receive Jesus anew this Christmas.  How can I create more room in my heart to receive Jesus this Christmas?  What opportunities present themselves for me to help those I love do the same?  Indeed, this preparation is done with faith in God’s promise.  Throughout the remainder of this Advent season and beyond, let us hold fast to this promise with Mary as our model and, with her, proclaim the greatness of the Lord (Luke 1:46). (McClure, 2023)

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, 2019)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 1:39-45 comments that it is hard to contemplate just how many questions Mary must have had as she faced an uncertain future both with Joseph and within her community. It would have been easy to panic or try to get out of this situation. But Mary didn’t give in to these thoughts. Instead, she trusted that God would somehow take care of her and the child now growing in her womb. And so she was able to turn her attention away from her own problems and focus on Elizabeth’s needs instead.

Mary’s decision to visit Elizabeth reveals her to be a decisive woman, filled with determination, courage, and trust in God. It also shows that submitting to God’s will is anything but boring or passive. It requires radical trust and Spirit-inspired bravery. It moves us to take risks that may seem foolish to the world. But it also opens our hearts to new and unexpected blessings from the Lord!

“Holy Mary, pray that I will be as brave as you in seeking and following God’s will for my life.” (Meditation on Luke 1:39-45, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes the passage from the Song of Songs was likely written for a matrimonial celebration but was applied to the relationship between Israel and God. In the Scripture, the dove is a symbol of love. Friar Jude notes how Elizabet praises Mary in Ein Karem as one who gave her whole self to what God said would be fulfilled in her.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Franciscan sister Ilia Delio who focuses on the theology of the incarnation and the universal nature of the Christ mystery. Christ is the communion of divine personal love expressed in every created form of reality—every star, leaf, bird, fish, tree, rabbit, and human person.

We cannot know this mystery of Christ as a doctrine or an idea; it is the root reality of all existence. Hence, we must travel inward, into the interior depth of the soul where the field of divine love is expressed in the “thisness” of our own, particular life. Each of us is a little word of the Word of God, a mini-incarnation of divine love. The journey inward requires surrender to this mystery in our lives, and this means letting go of our “control buttons.” It means dying to the untethered selves that occupy us daily; it means embracing the sufferings of our lives, from the little sufferings to the big ones; it means allowing God’s grace to heal us, hold us, and empower us for life; it means entering into darkness, the unknowns of our lives, and learning to trust the darkness, for the tenderness of divine love is already there; it means being willing to surrender all that we have for all that we can become in God’s love; and finally, it means to let God’s love heal us of the opposing tensions within us. When we can say with full voice, “You are the God of my heart, my God and my portion forever” [Psalm 73:26], then we can open our eyes to see that the God I seek is already in me … and in you. We are already One. [2] (Rohr, 2023)

We approach the Feast of the Incarnation anticipating warm reunions and joy and we seek the enlightenment of the Spirit to attend to the needs of the people we encounter.

References

Luke, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 21, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/1?39 

McClure, S. (2023, December 21). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Online Ministries. Retrieved December 21, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/122123.html 

Meditation on Luke 1:39-45. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved December 21, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/12/21/853577/ 

Psalms, PSALM 33 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 21, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/33?2 

Rohr, R. (2023, December 21). Mini Incarnations of Christ — Center for Action and Contemplation. Richard Rohr. Retrieved December 21, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/mini-incarnations-of-christ/ 

Schwager, D. (2019, June 24). Joyful Anticipation of the Messiah. Daily Scripture net. Retrieved December 21, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=dec21 

Song of Songs, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 21, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/songofsongs/2?8