The Joy Of Encounter
Introduction
Few things, if any, are more beautiful on the human – and the divine – level than the encounter between persons. An encounter is a great joy and a grace. The first reading (from the Song of Songs) speaks of the encounter between a suitor and the young woman he loves; this is probably an image of the love between God and Israel
In the gospel, Elizabeth encounters Mary; even the unborn John the Baptist encounters the Savior and his mother. Deeper than meetings between people in business, science, politics, or their jobs, are the understanding, love and sharing of real human encounters. This is the kind of encounter that awaits us with the Lord on Christmas and in this Eucharist. Encounters are even deeper when God is a partner of them.
1 Reading Song of Songs 2:8-14
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.”
Responsorial Psalm, PS 33:2-3, 11-12, 20-21
R. (1a; 3a) Exult, you just, in the Lord! Sing to him a new song.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.
Sing to him a new song;
pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.
R. Exult, you just, in the Lord! Sing to him a new song.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
R. Exult, you just, in the Lord! Sing to him a new song.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield,
For in him our hearts rejoice;
in his holy name we trust.
R. Exult, you just, in the Lord! Sing to him a new song.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law:
come to save us, Lord our God!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
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.”
Commentary
Once, after having preached on God’s love and forgiveness at a Mass, I received a phone call from a parishioner who was deeply troubled by my homily. “Father,” he said, “you preach too much on God’s love and forgiveness. You must preach more on God’s judgment than on all this compassion stuff. It is clear in the Bible that God will punish evil people. And there are too many of them in the world.” My forty-five-minute effort to convince him that God’s judgment is tempered by His mercy was a failure.
It saddens me to find many well-meaning Catholics so preoccupied with fulfilling the many rules of the Church and ritual compulsions that the joy of Christian living has gone out of them. These men and women are more Levitical than Gospel, for they are more concerned about the laws and punishments in Leviticus than the liberating forgiveness of the Gospel. Perhaps they should take note of the joy that permeates the encounter between Elizabeth and Mary and read the Song of Songs more often than the book of Leviticus.
It is said that when he was requested to give a teaching while on his deathbed, St. Thomas Aquinas, who had known and written about God more than any other mortal, chose to speak on the Song of Songs. Can anyone ever preach too much about God’s love?
Blessing
The coming of Christ has brought joy to the world. With him, there is hope. No more room for sadness and fear! Even the cross can lead to joy! May almighty God make you people of joy and bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen Thank You, Lord!