• Micah 5:1-4. Not from mighty Jerusalem but from insignificant Bethlehem would come the ruler of Israel; his origins reached back to most ancient promises.
• Hebrews 10:5-10. What was prefigured in Israelite sacrifices reached a fulfillment in the body of Jesus and his desire to do always the will of the Father. By this “will” we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for everyone.
• Luke 1:39-45. At the Visitation, Elizabeth declared to Mary: “Blessed is she who trusted that the Lord’s words to her would be fulfilled.”

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

In a spiritual pamphlet that St. Paul of the Cross wrote and shared with members of religious life entitled “Mystical Death” the founder of the Passionist community describes a difficult process as the ultimate goal of a Christian: Union with the Divine Will.

I will be resigned and ready to do the Divine Will by desiring nothing, and I will be equally happy with His every will. I will strip myself of everything by a complete abandonment of myself to God. I will leave the care of myself entirely to Him.    

In the Gospel reading for this Sunday we celebrate Mary’s visitation of Elizabeth and her joyful reception by both Elizabeth and the unborn John the Baptist. In the readings Jesus and Mary are noted for accepting the Will of God. The Prophet Micah reminds the reader that the restoration of Israel will come from the humble origins of Bethlehem. It will be from this unexceptional region that the servant of the Lord will follow the Divine Will, “[he] shall reach to the ends of the earth; he shall be peace.” In the letter to the Hebrews the author describes how the sacrifice of Jesus has replaced the sacrificial rituals of the Priests which had been the mediation for the people with their God. And how does Jesus become our salvation?  “Behold, I come to do your will.” …By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

This week we celebrate the actions of Mary and Jesus who said the ultimate yes to God — which is to fully adopt the Divine Will in lieu of their own passions and desires. What St. Paul of the Cross is telling his religious and the lay people to whom he offers spiritual direction is that this exercise is not restricted to Jesus and Mary. As part of our baptismal calling we are all called to say Yes to God and to resign ourselves to a cosmological Will that is beyond our own passions and desires. It is part of our faith not only to accept that through the Word of God creation came into existence, but also that creation has a Divine purpose and an ultimate plan.  

In Catholic teaching we are offered the social principle of the “common good” as a way for us to comprehend in our society how our social goal is not the good that we individually seek and want but the common good that serves us all and from which we can all truly benefit. This weekend lets us contemplate the Divine Will that Mary and Jesus followed and which we too are called to follow. This being a traditional season of peace let us consider the social issues that concern us and adopt the framework of the “common good”, considering those issues not from our own self-interest but from the interest of the Cosmological Christ who, we pray, will become incarnate again in us.