21/12. MONDAY IN WEEK 4 OF ADVENT

1st Reading: Song of Songs 2:8-14

The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice. My beloved speaks and says to me: " Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter  is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance.

Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.  O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the cliff, let me see your face let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

Gospel: Luke 1:39-45

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed  with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting , the child in my womb leaped for Joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what  was spoken to her by the Lord."

REFLECTIONS AND MEDITATIONS ON THE READINGS

"intimate spiritual friendship"

There is a beautiful tone of intimacy and affection in both readings for today. The book of the Song of Songs pours out some of the lovely, lyrical love- poetry written by King Solomon for his young bride from Egypt, describing the overflowing emotions of love between them at the time of their nuptials. In Luke's account of the visitation we sense the mutual friendship bonding Mary with Elizabeth, as they ponder how God has blessed both of them, and through them so many others who would come live more fully because of John the Baptist and of Jesus.

Reflecting this visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us reflect also on the three gifts of calling that we received when we were baptized. These gifts enable us , like Mary to bring and reveal Jesus to others.

First we are called to Mission. We are called by God to announce the good news of salvation to our families, place of work, schools and to whomever we meet every day. Let us configure Jesus in lives( to be Christ like), and bring him to others by the way we live good, holy, and Catholic lives.

Second is we are called for Joy. St. John leapt for joy with the presence of Jesus together with His mother. In other words, Jesus brings Joy to those who listen and read His words, experience his presence more especially in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

In the word Joy, what each letter stands for and the order of the letters? 'J' stands for ' Jesus' and just  as ' J' is the first letter of J.O.Y, so Jesus should always be the first in our lives. 'O' stands for 'Others' and just as ' J' is the second letter of JOY, we should always think of others as the second in our lives. The ' Y' stands for ' You' and just as ' Y' is the last letter of JOY, we should always think of ourselves as the last. Therefore, to bring true JOY into our lives, always think of Jesus first, others second and yourself last.

Third is we are called to Trust in God. Mary lived her calling by trusting God and not only as the Mother of God. This made her kept going even at the cross.