http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/053112.cfm
How beautiful upon the mountains
Announcing peace, bearing good news,
announcing salvation, saying to Zion
“Your God is King!”
Listen! Your sentinels raise a cry ,
together they shout for joy ,
For they see directly, before
their eyes ,
the LORD’s return to Zion
The passage above is from Isaiah 52:7-8, and not from today’s
readings; but I think of it as we celebrate this feast of Mary ’s
visit to Elizabeth .
Two and half millennia after the victory at Marathon
we still remember the joy of the runner who ran 26.2 miles to Athens
and cried “Nike !” as he collapsed and died from the exertion. “We
won!” If that good news was so important, how much more is the news Mary
brought to Elizabeth .
How beautiful that little lady was, right down to her dirty
little feet, to the eyes of her aging kinswoman. She announced peace to Zion ,
for Elizabeth
and her husband Zechariah lived in Jerusalem
(built on the hill called Zion
As she sang her Magnificat, she celebrated the victorious
reign of our God-King, and the blessings God gives to the lowly, the hungry and
the disenfranchised.
Another ancient couple, Simeon
and Anna , would welcome the Child to God’s
city and temple:
For they see directly, before
their eyes ,
the LORD’s return to Zion
“Now , Master, you may let your servant
go
in peace, according to your word,
for my eyes
have seen your salvation,
which you prepared in sight of all the peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
And that is a victory song we still sing on occasion:
Mine eyes have seen the glory of
the coming of the Lord,
He has trampled out the vintage
where the grapes of wrath are stored
He has loosed the fateful
lightning of his terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
Glory, glory halleluiah.
If I may, I'd like to share a woman's point of view on the Visitation. I remember what feelings it stirred in my heart telling another woman when I could say, "I'm pregnant." Especially if the other gal was pregnant too, there was such a bond, a sense of knowing, and a connection. Magnify that in Mary's and Elizabeth's circumstances. It makes sense to me for Mary to hurry to her cousin to share the joy, the excitement, the awareness of God's power, the uncertainity of the future, the fear of delivery, and hope of a new baby. Motherhood is being a companion to God; you are a direct part of creation. Mary, of course, would share that event in her life with Elizabeth, but she also shares that event with all mothers.
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