Leaping for Joy - a sign of Beholding the Reign!

Advent 2024: A Pilgrimage of Hope towards Peace with Joy - the Nature of the Journey!

Third Saturday in Advent - December 21, 2024

Song of Songs 2: 8-14; Luke 1: 39-45

Leaping for joy – that is the symbol that dominates the Word presented to us, bringing to the peak the theme of this week. Joy, leaping for joy, and sensing and expressing the joy within, are signs of having experienced something. Today what the Word wishes to challenge from us, is that we behold the Reign, here and now, and thus leap for joy.

This leaping for joy is compared to the joy of a beloved on beholding the one of his or her love, in the first reading! The past experiences and the relationship already established come into play here and the it is the memory that brings joy to the person in this case!

In the Gospel we come across Elisabeth who leaps for joy on encountering not just her cousin, but the mother-to-be of God; and the baby in her womb leaping for joy to encounter the would-be Mother of God and the Divine Son to be born. This is hope, faith and trust in the promises of the Lord – the insight, the future that brings joy to the persons involved!

Be they memory or insight, they abound for us too, despite the scenes of darkness and despair that surround us. How much are we prepared to behold the Reign – that competence shall bring joy to us, the joy that the Lord brings. The imagery of the Rising Dawn, the Morning Star, is a leap for joy in the new beginning. The new beginning is always on the basis of the memory of the past day's accomplishments - great things that God accomplishes with his loved ones like David; it is also about the promises that the new day holds - the promise that God has made in the lineage of David. It takes a special capacity to behold the Reign in our day today, here and now. And it is that capacity that can generate true divine joy!

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