Friday, December 21, 2007
(Luke 1:39-45)
In October of 1964, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a patient at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta when the news reported that he would receive that year’s Nobel Peace Prize. The archbishop of Atlanta, Paul Hallinan, took advantage of his stay in a Catholic hospital to personally visit the newly named laureate. He congratulated King for the honor and asked if he might give him his blessing. The great peacemaker readily accepted the offer. Upon finishing the sign of the cross, the archbishop sank to his knees begging Dr. King’s blessing in return.
This meeting between the two religious leaders resembles the movement in the gospel today. The elderly woman gives a blessing to her young counterpart. But it was not the press that informed Elizabeth of Mary’s distinction as mother of God, however. No, it was the divine interplay between the Messiah in Mary’s womb and the prophet in leaping in her own that tipped Elizabeth off. Mary then issues her own blessing, not on Elizabeth but on the Lord who has honored her so graciously.
We might suspend our seasonal activities for a few minutes to meditate on the divine player in this gospel. Who is he whose birth we are about to celebrate? Jesus, son of Mary, claimed by us Christians to be son of God as well. Sure, but what does all this mean? The appropriate clues to answer these questions may be found in the antiphons that we use before the gospel the eight days before Christmas. These are the same as the verses to the Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. He is the Wisdom that makes sense of our lives. He is the Radiant Dawn and Sun of Justice that illumine the way to salvation. Reflecting on these antiphons, we know why John leaps for joy when Jesus approaches.
