Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
In which Paul does not meet Mary but speaks as if he did
God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid. With joy we shall draw water at the fountain of salvation.
Just one day into Ordinary Time, and already a Feast!
Well, it’s a good one. Let’s celebrate, and honor the mother of Jesus, our Lord.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed. The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
Mary, such a young girl, carrying her baby, fathered by the Holy Spirit, walking up the path toward her aunt’s house, and Elizabeth too is going to have a baby. She will name him John.
Brothers and sisters, let love be sincere, hate what is evil, cling to what is good. Love one another with mutual affection and anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Paul was writing for us all, but he was inspired by the mother of Jesus, about whom he had heard from others, and undoubtedly wished he could have met. He came to Ephesus twenty or so years after the apostle John brought her there. If Paul had met her, he surely would have talked about their meeting. Still, it’s good to imagine what they might have talked about. First Mary, and then Paul, had experienced so much pain and persecution, misunderstanding and rejection.
Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with those in low position. Do not be conceited.
The lectionary stops here. Why? Paul is just about to show how to do these almost impossible things. Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” Mary may well have told him just that when he was a child.
Paul is explicit in how to make this love happen.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil.
Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Please note what sounds like a loophole: “as far as it depends on you.” This “loophole” also allows us to maintain boundaries and still offer our own dignity up to God. It’s complicated, right, this give and take, this sometimes “tough” love?
Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay.” And it is also written, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this you will heap burning coals on his head.”
His embarrassment may even cause him to repent, or at least withdraw. Paul knows this from very personal experience.
I am still not very good at this kind of love. But along with Romans 2:1, these verses in Romans 12 have helped me more than anything else in the Bible, as a counselor and a person, to refrain from blame and judgment, and to take ownership of my part in anything that begins to turn out wrong.
As far as it depends on me.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
(Zephaniah 3, Romans 12, Isaiah 12, Luke 1)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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