A Homily – The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, A Holy Day of Obligation (Year C)

First Reading - Zephaniah 3:14-18

Responsorial Psalm – Isaiah 12

Gospel Acclamation – Luke 1:45

The Gospel According to Luke 1:39-56

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

God is not a warrior and God does not intervene in human affairs, either to pass judgement, pardon or grant reprieve. God has no enemies, because the divine being is love.

There is wisdom in the words of the prophet: be patient; salvation flows from the wellspring of eternal being; enter the living stream, step into the way, let it carry you from this life into the arms of the God the infinitely compassionate.

Consider the Gospel reading for today.

The writers of Mark began their narrative when Jesus of Nazareth, otherwise known as Joshua son of Joseph, was an adult, at the beginning of his public ministry, but the early Christians wanted more, and so the authors of Luke brought their narrative back in time, making a fable of his conception and birth. In their story they attempted to tie-up and cinch-off a variety of loose threads in the stories that were being told about Jesus in their own day, and in so doing they hoped to unite different factions of the Christian movement who had already begun to diverge in their beliefs about Jesus, the meaning of the Gospel and the mission of the Church.

The narrative we are give today was meant to appeal to the followers of John the Baptist by bringing forth the notion that Jesus and John were actually cousins, and that even though John was older, he was a follower of Jesus from the time he was in the womb. It subordinates Johns to Jesus in the same way that John’s mother was subordinate to Mary…the whole thing is a fiction.

That today’s reading made it into the cannon is unfortunate, because a great deal of theology and doctrine has been hung from these exercises in make believe, and are little more than naked political calculations meant to manipulate the burgeoning Church

The succeeding Gospels each in their turn employed the same literary technique, reaching farther back further in time; the writers of Matthew inserted a confusing genealogy; tracing Jesus’ heritage back to Adam, through David on his father’s side. And yet, at the same time we are asked to believe that Joseph was not his biological father…it is nonsense, and has been criticized for being nonsense from the moment it was penned.

Regardless of these failures of the human imagination, rejoice in the divine, rejoice that we who are infinitely less than the infinite being who created us, the universe and everything in it, rejoice in the reality that we have received the blessing of God, that we are children of the divine, animated by the same spirit that animate Jesus and Mary, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Rejoice in God’s mercy and do not fear.

First Reading - Zephaniah 3:14-18

The Lord, the King of Israel, is in Your Midst

Shout for joy, daughter of Zion, Israel, shout aloud!

Rejoice, exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem!

The Lord has repealed your sentence; he has driven your enemies away.

The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst; you have no more evil to fear.

When that day comes, word will come to Jerusalem:

Zion, have no fear, do not let your hands fall limp.

The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior.

He will exult with joy over you, he will renew you by his love; he will dance with shouts of joy for you as on a day of festival.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Isaiah 12

The Rejoicing of a Redeemed People

Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Truly, God is my salvation,

  I trust, I shall not fear.

For the Lord is my strength, my song,

  he became my saviour.

With joy you will draw water

  from the wells of salvation.

Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Give thanks to the Lord, give praise to his name!

  Make his mighty deeds known to the peoples!

  Declare the greatness of his name.

Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Sing a psalm to the Lord

  for he has done glorious deeds;

  make them known to all the earth!

People of Zion, sing and shout for joy,

  for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Luke 1:45

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Luke 1:39-56

The Almighty Has Done Great Things For Me

Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’

  And Mary said:

‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my saviour; because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.

Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me.

Holy is his name, and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.

He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the proud of heart.

He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.

The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.

He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy – according to the promise he made to our ancestors – of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.

 

A Homily – The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, A Holy Day of Obligation (Year C)