St. Peter Canisius, priest & doctor

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

Song of Songs 2:8-14  (or Zephaniah 3:14-18a)

 The voice of my lover!

Behold he comes, springing across the mountains, jumping over the hills,  like a gazelle or a young stag. Now he stands behind our wall,

looking through the windows, peering through the lattice.

 My lover speaks to me, He “Arise, my love, my beautiful one!  Come, the winter is gone, the rains are over.  Flowers have appeared on earth; the season of singing has come; the cooing of doves is heard.

 The fig tree forms its early fruit, the vines in blossom are fragrant. Arise, my beautiful one, come with me, my love, come.  O my dove in the rocky cleft, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice. Your face – how lovely! Your voice – how sweet!”

 

  Ps 33:2-3, 11-12, 20-21

Exult, you just, in the Lord! Sing to him a new song.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊      

 Luke 1:39-45 d

 Mary then set out for a town in the hill country of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leapt in her womb.

Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and, giving a loud cry, said, "You are most blessed among women; and blessed is the fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you, who believed that the Lord's word would come true!"

 

Gospel Reflection：

How many times did we leap for joy simply because we are delighted by a visit of someone dear to us? Those are happy moments that mark our lives forever. This is precisely what happened when Mary visited Elizabeth.

The girl child pregnant by the grace of God, and the old woman who is past her prime to carry a baby but has conceived by God's grace are meeting now. Joy is in the air. Both are happy for each other's wonderful fate.

But it is not only the expectant mothers who are happy in meeting each other. The respective babies they carry are also joyful. More so John the Baptist who senses the one he will introduce later on into the world. Literally, he leapt for joy.

Blessing meets blessing for the first time. The rest of the time that Mary spends with Elizabeth will be a time of joyful retelling of how they become fecund by the grace of God.

 

St. Peter Canisius, priest & doctor

Dutch Sint Petrus Canisius, also called Peter Kanis, (born May 8, 1521, Nijmegen [now in the Netherlands]—died December 21, 1597, Fribourg, Switzerland; canonized 1925; feast day December 21), doctor of the church, Jesuit scholar, and strong opponent of Protestantism. He has been called the second apostle of Germany  for his ardent defense of Roman Catholicism there.