Readings:
Micah 5:1-4
Hebrews 10: 5-10
Luke 1: 39-44
Reflection:
In my family, as we gather for Christmas we often tell stories of the past and at the same time we look ahead to the coming year and anticipate all it will hold for us. In the first reading today Micah does the same, reminding us that our future is rooted in the past. It centers us in our faith and our beliefs and challenges us to live the future based on these foundations.
There is a lot about Christmas that centres on the love of a parent for their child, but today’s Gospel takes us instead to Elizabeth and the care that Mary showed to her in her time of need. The trip from Nazareth to Ein Karim, where Elizabeth lived, was a difficult and dangerous trip through the desert. It is the same trip that Mary and Joseph make again a few months later to be in Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus. Elizabeth’s words are the first proclamation of the Messiah’s arrival, and place Mary in the position of honour which the Church has continued to preserve. As always, the Gospel writers cleverly highlight the essence of the message, “Blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.” Rather than dwelling on the joy of the moment or even honouring Mary’s presence, it is the fact that Mary believed the promise that connected the prophecy of the past to the miracle of the present moment, in order to live the challenges of a future of hope, trust and love. Blessings for Christmas.
Margaret Bentley is a Salesian Sister and is currently the Academic Manager at the English Language Studies for Pastoral Ministry (ELSPM) begun by the Passionists in 2014 to enable their students to learn English before continuing to the Novitiate or theological studies.