Micah 5:2 – 5a / For the Psalm: Canticle 3 (Magnificat) / Luke 1:39 – 55
This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania,
by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, December 19, 2021.
“THE GOD WHO BRINGS TOGETHER, THE GOD WHO UNITES”
(Homily
text: Luke 1:39 – 55)
This
morning’s Gospel tells us something about God’s nature, and specifically, it
tells us that God is a God who brings people (and events) together. This same
God is the God who, having called them together, also unites people, one to
another.
Liturgically,
the event that took place when Mary went to stay with her cousin Elizabeth is
also celebrated on the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
observed each year on May 31st.
The
text appointed for today is rich with resources with which to concentrate on
the various aspects of what was going on when Mary left Nazareth and went into
the hill country of Judea to be with Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah. We
could, for example, look at the prominence of women in this account, something
that shines throughout Luke’s writing. We could also consider the fact that the
God who brings together and the God who unites, is also the God who brings
things into being that would, under normal circumstances, be impossible….that,
too, is Luke’s focus as he relates the circumstances of John the Baptist’s
birth, and the circumstances of Jesus’ birth. Or, we could look at the ways in
which God uses the meek, the lowly, the common and the powerless to bring about
His divine will. That, too, is one of Luke’s favorite themes. We would also do
well to note the presence of the Holy Spirit in today’s reading, for Luke often
includes the work of the Spirit in bringing about God’s will.
Instead
of considering these worthy themes, let’s concentrate on the ways in which God
is the God who brings people together, and the ways in which God unites people
in order that they may have a role in bringing about God’s will.
We
would do well to set the stage for today’s meeting between Elizabeth and Mary.
Each
woman has something in common with the other: Neither one of them is supposed
to be able to be pregnant. Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah, are up in
years at this point in their lives, beyond the normal child-bearing years. And
Mary is unmarried. It’s worth noting this common theme that unites these two
women.
Each
woman also has something else in common with the other: The impending births
are foretold by the angel Gabriel, who visited Zechariah to tell him about the
birth of John, and Mary, who was also visited by Gabriel.[1] [2]
Now,
in the fullness of time, God brings the two women together. It’s unclear if the
two had ever met before this. It’s also unclear what the reason(s) may have
been for Mary to leave Nazareth and go south into Judea. We could speculate
about the reasons, but our consideration of the background and the reasons
would be simply that, speculation. A couple of possibilities seem likely,
however: Each woman could give support to the other in what must have been a
time of exhilaration and expectancy, but also a time of challenge and risk; and
it’s also possible that Mary was present when John the Baptist was born.[3]
God’s
purpose in bringing the two together does seem clear, however, for John the
Baptist and Jesus will meet again on the occasion of John’s ministry in the
wilderness, a ministry of baptism for the forgiveness of sin, and the occasion
of Jesus’ baptism. God’s purpose unites these two in a common mission: John prepares
the way for Jesus, whose earthly ministry begins with His baptism.
One
way to study Holy Scripture is to see the patterns in which God brings people
together, oftentimes people who would, under normal circumstances, not be
together. God brings people of varying backgrounds, talents and outlooks
together, and then unites them in service to the divine will.
We
can see this in the call of the Lord’s original disciples, or in the call of
Paul to become one of the Apostles. In each case, the Lord unites these
followers, setting aside their differences of background and perspective and
outlook on life, in order that they all, together, might accomplish for God
things that they could not accomplish by themselves.
Down
through time, God has called people together, uniting them in a common life and
love for God through Jesus Christ. St. Paul would affirm this calling and this
unity, saying, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor
free, there is no male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
(Galatians 3:28)
God’s
call to come together in a new identity in Christ doesn’t mean that our
individuality disappears. On the contrary, God is able to use our unique,
individual traits and gifts for His purposes, much in the same way that the
instruments of an orchestra each contribute to the beauty of the whole.
AMEN.
[1] Luke 1:5 – 38 outlines these occurrences.
[2] Gabriel’s visitation is commemorated in our liturgical calendar on March 25th each year.
[3] Luke’s chronology is unclear. He tells us that Elizabeth hid herself for five months after she became pregnant (see Luke 1:24), and that Mary stayed with Elizabeth and Zechariah for about three months (Luke 1:56). So the question then becomes whether or not the five months that Elizabeth was out-of-sight were followed by Mary’s arrival almost immediately afterward.
