WORD FOR MISSION
Missionary reflection  on Sunday Liturgy

Micah  5:1-4a

Psalm  79

Hebrews  10:5-10

Luke  1:39-48

Reflections

On the threshold of Christmas, the Word of God today offers us the keys to understanding, enjoying and proclaiming to others the mystery we are celebrating.  The keys are Mary, the flesh and littleness. First of all Mary, whom the evangelist Luke presents to us in the action of visiting her cousin Elizabeth (Gospel). In a climate of faith and of intense joy, the encounter between the two women progresses. Both have become pregnant through a special divine intervention: Elizabeth in her old age; Mary in her virginity. Both are filled with the Holy Spirit (v.41, Lk.1:35), both are aware of and recognise the signs of the presence of the Spirit, ready to praise and thank Him for his wonderful works (vv.42-45;46-48). These elements make of the Visitation a mystery of Faith, of joy, of service, of missionary proclamation. Mary, concern for Elizabeth hurrying her footsteps (v.39), carrying Jesus in her womb, is the image of the missionary Church taking to the world the proclamation of the Saviour.

“Blessed is she who believed”, exclaims Elizabeth (v. 45). It is the first Beatitude of the Gospel. Through faith Mary conceived the Son of God in her heart before giving birth to him in the flesh. She believed, that is, she trusted, she abandoned herself to God. Mary's words: “You see before you the Lord's servant, let it be done...” (v. 38) are in tune with the assent of Jesus who, according to the author of the Letter to the Hebrews (2nd. Reading), on coming into the world said: “Here I am, I am coming to do your will, God.” (v. 7). Thus he shows the one cult that is pleasing to God, the worship of the true adorers of the Father “in spirit and in truth”, as Jesus himself will reveal to the Samaritan woman (Jn 4,23).

For a long time - we might say for always - God takes no pleasure in the smell of incense or of the smoke form the burning flesh of animals sacrificed in the temple. He wants to dwell in a temple of flesh, in the hearts of people, to become the centre of every thought and of every concern, the reason for every option and decision, the root of every joy. Only at this level can we speak of a true conversion of the heart, a conversion that goes beyond external gestures that are purely ritual, beyond superficial practices and abstract formulae learned by rote.

Jesus is the true adorer of the Father: from his first coming into the world he does not offer Him animals or incense (v.5-6), but presents himself, his body, as an offering of love for the sanctification of all (v.10), excluding no-one, because ”he is not ashamed to call them brothers” (Heb.2:11). “Caro salutis est cardo” (the flesh is the hinge of salvation), was a favourite expression of the Fathers of the early centuries, with their great 'feeling' for both the human and the divine. With that expression they stressed that God wanted to make his salvation concrete and manifest, making it pass through the human flesh of the Son of God, the son of Mary. It is at the school of Mary that the Pope invites us to meet Jesus at Christmas and in the Eucharist.  (*)

All this wonderful work of salvation is carried out through small and simple signs, humble persons and events. The biblical example of the day is Bethlehem (1st. Reading), a tiny village, but the cradle of a ruler who will feed his flock in the power of the Lord, will give security to the people, “for his greatness will extend to the most distant parts of the country.”  (v. 3-4). Bethlehem is an insignificant little place, but God chooses it for the birth of the one who is the 'Best news of All' for all nations. At the very beginning of this event we find Mary, who is aware that God “has looked upon the humiliation of his servant” (v. 48). So she rejoices and sings.

Even today God carries out his great works through weak instruments, humble gestures, situations that - humanly speaking - are hopeless. One is led to ask: so who, then will be saved? Those who with a pure and ready heart welcome the mystery of that Child who was born in Bethlehem two thousand years ago; those who listen to his message and become builders of his peace, carriers of his joy. Like Mary, like the shepherds!

The Pope's words

(*)  “My dear friends, we are approaching the mystery of Christmas, already close, through the 'door' of the Eucharist: in the cave in Bethlehem we adore the same Lord who in the Eucharistic Sacrament wanted to make himself our spiritual food, to transform the world from within, starting from the heart of man. Put yourselves in the school of the Virgin Mary, the first to contemplate the humanity of the incarnate Word. In the Child Jesus, with whom infinite and silent conversations took place, She recognised the human face of God, so that the mysterious Wisdom of the Son impressed itself on the mind and the heart of the Mother”.

Benedict XVI

To the undergraduates of the Roman Universities, 14th December 2006

In the footsteps of Missionaries

- 24/12: Bl. Bartolomeo Maria dal Monte (1726-1778), a priest of Bologna, tireless preacher of parish mission to the people and the clergy in 62 Dioceses in Italy. He started the 'Pious Work of the Missions'.

- 25/12: The Birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, the Son of God in human flesh, Saviour of all nations (Lk 2:10-11).

- 26/12: St. Stephen, first Martyr (+ about 34AD.), a Deacon full of Faith and of the Holy Spirit. He died praying for his persecutors.

- 26/12: Bl. Agnes Phila e Lucy Khambang, of the Sisters “Lovers of the Cross”, martyred along with other Christian women in Thailand in 1940).

- 27/12: St John, Apostle and Evangelist.

- 28/12: Feast of the Holy Innocents, who witnessed to Christ by the sacrifice of their lives.

- 28/12: St. Gaspare del Bufalo (Rome 1786-1837), who preached to carters and land workers, gave parish missions, and spread the devotion to the Precious Blood of Christ.

- 29/12: St. Thomas à  Becket (1118-1170), who became Chancellor of the realm then Archbishop of Canterbury. He was exiled to France for six years, and not long after returning to England, was killed in his cathedral.

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Compiled by Fr. Romeo Ballan, mcci - former Director of CIAM, Rome

Translated by Fr. J.M. Troy, mccj

Website:    www.ciam.org    “The Word for Mission”

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