REFLECTIONS TODAY
After Mary said her Yes to God’s divine plan during the annunciation of Jesus’ birth, she sets out in haste to a town of Judah in order to visit her cousin Elizabeth and attend to her needs. The Greek expression meta spoudēs, which means “with haste,” may also mean “with zeal.” One can only act with zealousness after one is able to discern well what one needs to do. Mary is able to discern well God’s will for her, and she cooperates with God’s plan. While recognizing that she herself has her own struggles, she also comes to discern that her cousin Elizabeth is also in need of her help and companionship. After coming up with a well-discerned decision to attend to Elizabeth, Mary goes to her with haste. She zealously serves her.
Do we take time to discern God’s will in everything we do? Do we still care to reach out and attend to the needs of other people, given that we also have our own problems to face? How zealous are we to be of help to others?
FIRST READING• Sg 2:8-14
Hark! my lover — here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills. My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Here he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices. My lover speaks; he says to me, “Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come! For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the dove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance. Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!
“O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff, Let me see you, let me hear your voice, For your voice is sweet, and you are lovely.”
Gospel • Luke 1:39-45
Mary set out in those days and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2022,” St. Pauls, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.