Blessed Are You and the Fruit of Your Womb
Introduction
Luke presents Mary as the Ark of the Covenant coming to Jerusalem to show that God is present among his people to bring them joy. This is why the child leaps (that is, dances for joy) in Elizabeth’s womb. With Christ, God comes to live not in a temple of stone but in the hearts of people. Through Christ living in Mary God’s victory over evil has begun. A person in whom Christ lives – a Christ-bearer, a Christopher – brings Christ to others, and with Christ, joy and love.
Reading 1: Zephaniah 3:14-18a
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The LORD has removed the judgment against you, he has turned away your enemies; The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear. On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged! The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty saviour; He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, He will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals.
(Optional 2nd Reading: Romans 12:9-16)
Responsorial Psalm: ISAIAH 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6
R. (6) Among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
God indeed is my saviour;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my saviour.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation. R.
Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name. R.
Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel! R.
Alleluia Luke 1:45
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, O Virgin Mary, who believed
That what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Luke 1:39-56
Mary set out 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.” And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.” Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
Commentary
My heart exults in the Lord;
my strength is exalted in my God.
The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the weak are girded with strength.
The well-fed must labour for bread,
but the hungry need work no more.
The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low, he also exalts…. (1 S 2:1-10).
It is the Canticle of Hannah, mother of Samuel, and it is the source on which Mary’s Magnificat is based. Mary is shaped, you might say, by the best of the Old Testament.
But she is also a figure looking to the future. She is an image of the new community, the Church. That is a community where the topsy-turvy logic of the Gospel is intended to hold sway: the first is the last, the weak is the strong, the greatest is the least, the poorest is the richest, the lowest is the highest…. “God has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly.” But when we look at the Church—at ourselves—sadly, we see that we live mostly by straightforward logic: power and privilege, palaces, badges and titles of honour….
Mary, the greatest revolutionary figure, still has many revolutions to accomplish.
Blessing
“God be with you” was the greeting at the beginning and at the end of this Eucharistic assembly. God has visited us again as his people. Let us go on loving him and taking him to those around us, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!