Monday, 12 December 2016
3rd Week of Advent
1st Reading: Zec 2:14-17, Gospel: Luke 1:39-47
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Mary went in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth after she heard from the Angel that Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy. Probably she went there to verify Elizabeth’s pregnancy after the Angel presented it as proof that “nothing is impossible with God”. Verification is not always a sign of weakness of faith. It could be a sign of one’s willingness to commit. The greater reason for the visitation, however, was altruism. Mary knew that if indeed Elizabeth was pregnant, she needed help, and the need was urgent.
Today Mary continues to be responsive to our needs. The miracles she is performing at different periods of history, such as her apparition in Guadalupe, shows how active she is in the Church. As she is prompt in helping us in our needs, so may we be prompt in helping one another. Promptness is an essential element when we help. Help delayed is help denied. There are times, though, when help must be held in abeyance to evaluate if the act will not make the recipients dependent. Help must not condemn the needy person into perpetual mendicancy but must empower him to help himself. This notwithstanding, the holding in abeyance should not be unduly stretched. Unnecessary delay turns the whole process into a convenient excuse not to help.
Today’s Gospel challenges our capacity to prioritize others. After the Feast of Annunciation, a feast like “Marian Thanksgiving Celebration” is in order, for indeed so great was the gift Mary received through the Annunciation that she deserved to throw a thanksgiving party. But we celebrate none of that sort, and rightly so, for Mary subordinated her right to celebrate the favor she received at the Annunciation to her duty to help a person in immediate need. She went in haste to be with her cousin Elizabeth who needed immediate help. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com.
May comment ka ba sa column ni Father Dan? May tanong ka ba sa kanya?
I-type ang BANDERA REACT <message/ name/age/address> at i-send sa 4467.