The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with the theme of restoration of faith in God’s Plan and our acceptance of Jesus' Way to truth, goodness, and compassion.
The reading from the Book of Micah proclaims the Ruler from Bethlehem.
* [5:1–6] Salvation will come through a “messiah,” an anointed ruler. The Book of Micah shares with Isaiah the expectation that God will deliver Israel through a king in the line of David. Bethlehem-Ephrathah is the home of the Davidic line.
* [5:2] These words are sometimes understood as a reference to Isaiah’s Emmanuel oracle, given some thirty years earlier (Is 7:14). The Gospel of Matthew reports that the chief priests and scribes cite this passage as the ancient promise of a messiah in the line of David to be born in Bethlehem (Mt 2:5–6).
* [5:4] Peace: he will not only symbolize but also bring about harmony and wholeness. (Micah, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 80 is a prayer for Israel’s Restoration.
* [Psalm 80] A community lament in time of military defeat. Using the familiar image of Israel as a vineyard, the people complain that God has broken down the wall protecting the once splendid vine brought from Egypt (Ps 80:9–14). They pray that God will again turn to them and use the Davidic king to lead them to victory (Ps 80:15–19). (Psalms, PSALM 80 | USCCB, n.d.)
The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews declares that by God’s will, One Sacrifice instead of many.
Christ, therefore, is here shown to understand his mission in terms of Ps 40:5–7, cited according to the Septuagint (Heb 10:5–7). Jesus acknowledged that the Old Testament sacrifices did not remit the sins of the people and so, perceiving the will of God, offered his own body for this purpose (Heb 10:8–10).
* [10:5–7] A passage from Ps 40:7–9 is placed in the mouth of the Son at his incarnation. As usual, the author follows the Septuagint text. There is a notable difference in Heb 10:5 (Ps 40:6), where the Masoretic text reads “ears you have dug for me” (“ears open to obedience you gave me,” NAB), but most Septuagint manuscripts have “a body you prepared for me,” a reading obviously more suited to the interpretation of Hebrews.
* [10:8] Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings: these four terms taken from the preceding passage of Ps 40 (with the first two changed to plural forms) are probably intended as equivalents to the four principal types of Old Testament sacrifices: peace offerings (Lv 3, here called sacrifices); cereal offerings (Lv 2, here called offerings); holocausts (Lv 1); and sin offerings (Lv 4–5). This last category includes the guilt offerings of Lv 5:14–19. (Hebrews, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB, 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 | USCCB, n.d.)
Suzanne Braddock comments that coincidence for her lay in the words of call and response in Psalm 80: “Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.” She asks, “if that is what it takes to be saved, how do we see God’s face?”
The closing words of the gospel are an invitation to us all: “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” We may not see the face of God in the way we imagined, but surely we will see God in this life and the next: Believe and we will see what some have called “Reality with a face”, God, in every person, even in all of creation. What joy. (Braddock, 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 Luke 1:39-45 comments that when Elizabeth praised Mary for believing what the Lord said to her (Luke 1:45), Zechariah’s own faith might have been buoyed up and his anticipation kindled. Any regret at his own response to his heavenly messenger likely faded when he observed Mary’s wholehearted surrender to the Lord’s will.
Today, just a few days before Christmas, place yourself in the scene of the Visitation as a silent presence like Zechariah. Take some time to slow down your thoughts. Imagine Mary entering your house carrying Jesus in her womb. How does your heart respond to the sound of her greeting? Do you recognize Jesus in her? Can you praise God for Mary’s faithful response to his word to her?
“Lord, help me to listen to what you’re saying to me today.” (Meditation on Luke 1:39-45, n.d.)
Franciscan Media reflects on the Gospel and notes that it precedes the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). Mary herself—like the Church—traces all her greatness to God.
One of the invocations in Mary’s litany is “Ark of the Covenant.” Like the Ark of the Covenant of old, Mary brings God’s presence into the lives of other people. As David danced before the Ark, John the Baptist leaps for joy. As the Ark helped to unite the 12 tribes of Israel by being placed in David’s capital, so Mary has the power to unite all Christians in her son. At times, devotion to Mary may have occasioned some divisiveness, but we can hope that authentic devotion will lead all to Christ and therefore, to one another. (Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler contrasts the spiritual influences of Micah and Isaiah, with whom he was a contemporary. In Hebrews, the theme of obedience to God is lived by Christ who consecrated Himself and the world to the Father once and for all times. The Roman Catholic celebration of the Mass is a REpresenting of Jesus Cross and Resurrection through spiritual entry into eternity. Friar Jude reminds us of the response of the Baptist in Elizabeth’s womb that recognized the Word carried by Mary.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares what Christ’s incarnation offers to all humanity.
Jesus walked, enjoyed, and suffered the entire human journey, and he told us that we could and should do the same. His life exemplified the unfolding mystery in all of its stages—from a hidden, divine conception, to a regular adult life full of love and problems, punctuated by a few moments of transfiguration and enlightenment, and all leading to glorious ascension and final return. As Hebrews 4:15 states, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but we have one who was like us in every way, experienced every temptation, and never backtracked” (my translation). Jesus’ life reveals that we don’t need to be afraid of the depths and breadths of our own lives, of what this world offers us or asks of us. We are given permission to become intimate with our own experiences, learn from them, and allow ourselves to descend to the depth of things, even our mistakes, before we try too quickly to transcend it all in the name of some idealized purity or superiority. God hides in the depths—even the depths of our sins—and is not seen as long as we stay on the surface of anything. [2] (Rohr, n.d.)
We ponder how the visit of Mary to Elizabeth made Jesus present and seek the guidance of the Spirit to seek opportunities to be agents of “Visitation” on our journey.
References
Braddock, S. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/122224.html
Hebrews, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/10?5
Luke, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/1?38
Meditation on Luke 1:39-45. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/12/22/1156918/
Micah, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/micah/5?1
Psalms, PSALM 80 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/80?2
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Why Incarnation Matters. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/why-incarnation-matters/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Joyful Anticipation of the Messiah. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=dec22
Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (n.d.). Franciscan Media. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/visitation-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/
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