REFLECTIONS TODAY
Luke presents the birth of John the Baptist and of Jesus in parallel events as they develop in separate scenes. In the Visitation, he now brings the most important characters together in one setting. We have Mary meeting Elizabeth (and Zechariah); but more importantly, the main protagonists—Jesus and John—meet even while both are still in the womb. They are presented together in one stage (setting). But then Luke will develop again the narratives separately. The next time they meet, Jesus and John are already adults beginning their public ministry. Of course, as cousins, they must surely have met more often; but Luke is more interested in theological meanings than what were possibly historical occurrences.
Some Bible scholars see in today’s Gospel episode an allusion to the Virgin Mary as the “Ark of the Covenant,” one of the many titles in her litany. Given Luke’s propensity for symbolism and allusion, this may not altogether be far-fetched. Can Luke be alluding to the story of David bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem? David and all the Israelites brought up the ark of the Lord with shouts of joy (2 Sm 6:15). Some verses earlier, he had expressed his fear and unworthiness by saying, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” (2 Sm 6:9). There are certainly verbal similarities to the narrative of Luke. And if, in former times, the Shekinah or the presence of the Lord was “contained” in the ark, now the new ark is the womb of the Virgin Mary, containing God’s permanent presence among his people: the Word-made-flesh.
First Reading • Sg 2:8-14 [or Zep 3:14-18a]
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 2023,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.