“SPRINGS OF LIVING WATER”
Daily Spiritual Reflections
19th December 2021
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SUNDAY, FOURTH WEEK OF ADVENT - O Root of Jesse (O Radix Jesse)
Mi 5: 1-4; Ps 80:2-3,15-16,18-19; Heb 10: 5-10; Lk 1: 39-45
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GOD COMES TO VISIT HUMANITY
Today’s first reading is taken from the prophet Micah who rebuked the people of Judah for dishonesty and idolatry. He prophesied six centuries before Christ that the Messiah would be born in the town of Bethlehem. If we analyze prophecies theologically and scripturally, we come to know that this prophecy has a dual character – it is Messianic and Mariological in character. Though the prophecy from the passage today is short and precise there are five important points for our consideration and reflection:
• The place of birth of the Messiah, viz., of him who will be the ‘ruler in Israel’;
• The primary origin of the Messiah: not temporal, but eternal;
• The exile to which the chosen people were condemned, forced to live dispersed in Babylonia;
• The sign of the arrival of the Messiah, when the woman ‘who is in travail has brought forth’;
• The fruit of the return from exile when the ‘rest of his brethren shall return to the people of Israel.’
Given the attributes to the ruler in the prophecy, this cannot be anyone other than the Messiah. There is also a close connection between this person prophesied by Micah and the “Emmanuel” in Isaiah’s prophecy. Secondly in the book of Micah, the mother, introduced so suddenly and so specifically designated without a husband, conveys the virginal birth of Jesus which we also see in Isaiah 7:14. The fact that she is so strongly and clearly identified as a woman without a husband represents at least an implicit reference to that same virgin birth. Therefore it is clear that the woman who is giving birth to the Messiah is a virgin and this virgin is none other than the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Gospel of Luke today presents us Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. This is such a gentle scene and reflects the very best nature of humanity. We see one cousin going to help an older cousin as she prepares to give birth. Each will give birth to an important religious figure who will make a difference in the society and the world. Elizabeth greets Mary with full recognition of the roles that they and their unborn children will play in God's plan for salvation. And Mary responds to Elizabeth's greeting with her song of praise, the Magnificat. Both women recall and echo God's history of showing favor upon the people of Israel.
Today’s gospel offers us an idea of what happens when God visits us. A virgin (Mary)conceives, without the help of a man; a barren woman (Elizabeth) conceives a child of promise. God’s visit fructifies an arid land, a sinful soul, a sorrowful people, a hopeless situation. God’s visit leaves behind visible and palpable signs of reminder of his passage and presence: on account of God’s visit, through Angel Gabriel, Jesus and John the Baptist were born; in God’s visit to Elizabeth through Mary, the child in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy. When God visits us, he fulfills the promises of old. God’s promise to raise a savior for his people from Bethlehem, Ephrathah, from lowliness is fulfilled. When we see all the events of God visiting his people in the Scriptures, we can see how every single visit of God leads to transformation and blessing for the lowly and the oppressed. This same God is doing the same thing even today, visiting the lowly and the oppressed right now.
How then should we respond? When God visits us, the only response possible is fidelity. With God, there is only the language of love, translated as covenant. When God visits us, He becomes creative; he remembers that each one of us is a child of promise emanating from himself as his creatures. As a result, God visits us so as to transform our unhappiness into a stream of joy and bliss.
As we near Christmas, a few days from when God will visit you and to me – baby Jesus. The best question to ask now, is whether I am ready to be transformed into happiness, into an instrument of joy like Mary and Elizabeth?
Response: O God, bring us back; let your face shine on us, and we shall be saved.
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