21 December/Tuesday
Cant 2:8-14 or Zeph 3:14-18a/Psa 33:2-3,11-12,20-21/Luke 1:39-45
By Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, SVD
First Reading Song of Songs 2:8-14
See how my Beloved comes, leaping on the mountains
I hear my Beloved.
See how he comes
leaping on the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
My Beloved is like a gazelle,
like a young stag.
See where he stands
behind our wall.
He looks in at the window,
he peers through the lattice.
My Beloved lifts up his voice,
he says to me,
‘Come then, my love,
my lovely one, come.
For see, winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth.
The season of glad songs has come,
the cooing of the turtledove
is heard in our land.
The fig tree is forming its first figs
and the blossoming vines give out their fragrance.
Come then, my love,
my lovely one, come.
My dove, hiding in the clefts of the rock,
in the coverts of the cliff,
show me your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet
and your face is beautiful.’
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 32(33):2-3,11-12,20-21
Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just; O sing him a song that is new.
Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp,
with a ten-stringed lute sing him songs.
O sing him a song that is new,
play loudly, with all your skill.
His own designs shall stand for ever,
the plans of his heart from age to age.
They are happy, whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as his own.
Our soul is waiting for the Lord.
The Lord is our help and our shield.
In him do our hearts find joy.
We trust in his holy name.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
Key of David, who open the gates of the eternal kingdom,
come to liberate from prison
the captive who lives in darkness.
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 1:39-45
Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?
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.’
Reflection
The First Reading is a love song in which the girl is in the parents’ home and looks out to see the Beloved coming on the mountains. He finally comes to stand near the wall of the house and gazes through the window. It is not clear if what is narrated was happening in the sight of the girl or she was only recalling a past experience. Whatever be the case, she narrates what the lover said to her and how he yearns for her. He invites her saying: “Come then, my love, my lovely one, come”. The story shows the extent to which the Beloved manifested his love for the girl. It is true that love should not be wrongly stimulated and we should not read any mischief into the action and words of the Beloved but consider him to be sincere. Granting that he is sincere with his words, we notice in the story a certain compulsion about true love. When love is genuine, the Beloved is ready to go all out to convince the girl he loves to accept his proposal.
The story makes use of the psychological influence of the alteration of the seasons on love. The Beloved chose the spring season for his visit. It is a time of new and vibrant life in nature. This corresponds well with his own behaviour as he leaps upon the mountains and hills in search of her girl. Spring is the season when flowers burst forth, birds sing lovely tunes in the trees, fruit trees show their fruit and the smell of spring blossoms all over. All this transformation of nature has its influence on human relationship. It is therefore not strange that love is often associated with spring which is a time for new life and vitality.
We are invited today to taste a similar experience of the Beloved and her girl as we await the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. His coming is like the spring time because he brings us new life. His coming is like the visit of the Beloved because he comes to announce God’s infinite love for us. Elizabeth experienced and testified to this love in the Gospel Reading at the visit of Mary. May we also open our hearts to welcome the Lord who is to be born in our midst.
