Luke gives a prominent place to women
Luke mentions thirteen women in his Gospel not spoken of in other Gospels
Some Thoughts on Saint Luke's Visitation Narrative
This Sunday's Gospel reading is the same one as we just read on Saturday because, Sunday Mass Gospel readings are on a different schedule than weekday Mass readings. Thus, repeated Gospel readings may occur. If you went to Mass on Saturday, you will hear Luke 1:39-45 (the Visitation Narrative, the subject of my Reflection below) repeated as the Gospel on Sunday. Lucky you!
I ran across 15 references in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that cited our rich Gospel reading, Luke Chapter 1 verses 39-45, for today. I selected 3 to look at closely.
Para. 523 of THE MYSTERIES OF JESUS' INFANCY AND HIDDEN LIFE Section.
St. John the Baptist is the Lord's immediate precursor or forerunner, sent to prepare his way. 'Prophet of the Most High', John surpasses all the prophets, of whom he is the last. He inaugurates the Gospel, already from his mother's womb welcomes the coming of Christ [I will have much more on this later], and rejoices in being 'the friend of the bridegroom', whom he points out as 'the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.' Going before Jesus 'in the spirit and power of Elijah', John bears witness to Christ in his preaching, by his Baptism of conversion, and through his martyrdom.
Para. 717 of THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME Section.
"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." John was 'filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb' [I will also comment on just when this occurred] by Christ himself, whom the Virgin Mary had just conceived [a big hint here] by the Holy Spirit. Mary's visitation to Elizabeth thus became a visit from God to his people.
Para. 2677 discusses prayers like the Ave Maria & the Rosary:
'Hail Mary' [or 'Rejoice, Mary']: The greeting of the angel Gabriel opens this prayer. It is God himself who, through his angel as intermediary, greets Mary. Our prayer dares to take up this greeting to Mary with the regard God had for the lowliness of his humble servant and to exult in the joy he finds in her.
'Full of grace, the Lord is with thee': These two phrases of the angel's greeting shed light on one another. Mary is full of grace because the Lord is with her. The grace with which she is filled is the presence of Him who is the source of all grace. 'Rejoice ... O Daughter of Jerusalem ... the Lord your God is in your midst.' Mary, in whom the Lord himself has just made his dwelling, is the daughter of Zion in person, the ark of the covenant, the place where the glory of the Lord dwells. She is 'the dwelling of God ... with men.' …
'Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.' After the angel's greeting, we make Elizabeth's greeting our own. "Filled with the Holy Spirit," Elizabeth is the first in the long succession of generations who have called Mary "blessed." 'Blessed is she who believed. ... '.
Even though the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) report many of the same events and episodes in Jesus’ life, one would expect many similarities here as well. However, each writer focuses on their own distinct emphasis and points of interests. Scholars say Luke’s major characteristic themes include a prominent place given to women, and the Holy Spirit.
Our Gospel reading this morning runs from just after the Annunciation and stops prior to Mary giving her famous Canticle the 'Magnificat'.
In all, Luke mentions thirteen women in his Gospel not spoken of elsewhere in other Gospels. Also, did you ever notice that Luke focuses on women from the very beginning of Jesus’ life by pointing to Mary, not Joseph, who praised God when she received Jesus' birth announcement (see Luke 1:26-38)?
The pairing of a woman's reaction to a man's is found in Luke’s birth announcements made to Zechariah (Luke 1:5-23) and to Mary (1:26-38). Luke shows us that Mary’s questioning of the messenger is rooted in faith, while Zechariah’s is not. In response, Zechariah is punished while Mary is blessed.
The miraculous conceptions and births from the closed wombs of Mary and Elizabeth described by Luke offers another interesting contrast. At the start of the Luke's Gospel, there are two women, one old, one young, both childless. The barrenness of Israel under the old law, is represented by Elizabeth, whose child will not only be the last of the prophets but he will herald the arrival of the Messiah. Luke compares this to the virgin womb of Mary, now carrying the 'Word', the new law, the message of salvation and grace to the World.
I’m not going to turn this into a “Right to Life” speech, but I can’t pass over the reality of what happened when Mary visited Elizabeth. Here we have a response to Mary’s presence not only from Elizabeth but also from her unborn child. John the Baptist’s first testimony to Jesus, his first heralding of the King, takes place while both are unborn. Another thing, Jesus, I think, energizes and plus gives John his life's mission while both are still in the womb.
Mary’s encounter with Elizabeth also introduces us to another interesting example to reflect on as: It is Elizabeth and Mary who are first to sing and prophesy about the Christ child. They are not just witnesses, but seem to be the very active participants in God’s redeeming purpose. Elizabeth and Mary are, I think, the most prominent characters in the first two chapters of Luke, but, strangely, Elizabeth does not appear in any of the other Gospels.
Two more thoughts. First, a question: Why, as soon as Mary had conceived the Word in her womb, did she: 'Arise, and with haste go to the hill country, to a city of Judah,' to visit her cousin Elizabeth? Can we not sense in Mary's haste something more that the desire to serve and support her cousin in her third trimester of pregnancy was the cause of the promptness plus seriousness with which she took this trip?
I think that Mary, knowing the grace now in her own womb, was calling her forth (I believe it to the Holy Spirit) to take that grace to the house of Zechariah, where John the Baptist (Jesus' forerunner) had been earlier conceived. Further, I believe that she divinely sensed that Jesus would need to be preceded by John externally; but interiorly, it is Jesus who must precede to John now, because he must sanctify John. It was therefore necessary, as mentioned above, that John receive from Jesus this first touch of grace while both were still unborn; thus, the haste.
Second: Please be sure to remember that Chapter 1 of Luke is the source of the Gloria and the Magnificat that were later introduced into Christian worship. Plus prayers such as the Hail Mary and the Rosary were built from it, as cited in my above Catechism reference.
Wrapping up my Reflection: We have reviewed how “The Joyful” mysteries of the Rosary begin with the Annunciation, in that holy exchange recorded by Saint Luke just before our reading this morning when Mary becomes the Mother of God. Then in the following verses of chapter 1 of Luke, where today’s Gospel begins, which is now called the Visitation, Luke reveals the second Joyful mystery of the Rosary: wherein Mary 'traveled to the hill country in haste and greeted Elizabeth.'
We saw that Mary made this journey in the first days of her pregnancy and that somehow, immediately upon Mary's arrival, Elizabeth knew that Mary was with child.
How did she know this? Luke gives us the answer when he writes: 'Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice, blessed is the fruit of your womb.' That's the key, I believe, to this impossible knowledge—The Holy Spirit told Elizabeth! The same Holy Spirit who had overshadowed Mary (a few verses) earlier. The same Holy Spirit who came upon each of us at our own Baptism and offered us a portion of this same gift that Elizabeth had. Plus, maybe even a richer amount of this gift was received by each of us later on as part of the seven gifts of The Holy Spirit given to us at our Confirmation.
Determining what exactly are the seven gifts of The Holy Spirit given at Catholic Confirmation, is left as “an exercise for the Reader.” But, one of them is: spiritual knowledge: The ability “see as God sees” (a loose re-statement from the Baltimore Catechism.)
So, as each of us make our own journey towards the third Joyful Mystery, the Nativity of our Lord, I pray that we accept all Joyful gifts offered to each of us by the Holy Spirit just as Mary and Elizabeth did.
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