Daily Gospel Reflection for December 22, 2021

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Today's Gospel: Luke 1:46-56

I love watching musicals, both on film and on stage. Invariably, when the show ends, I spend the rest of the evening wishing that I lived a life where people randomly burst into song. (As a mother with five young children, this is my current reality to a degree, but we’re not always on key.)

There can be such joy in this mode of expression. There is potential for emotions to find a fuller range when we use rhythm and melody to bring them to life.

This is how I think of Mary’s Magnificat, which we read in the Gospel today. When Mary visits Elizabeth, the child John leaps in Elizabeth’s womb, and Elizabeth herself recognizes with great joy that she is in the presence of the Lord. In reply, Mary bursts into a song of worship and praise. Her Magnificat is beautiful, lyrical, moving, and hopeful. It gives great glory to the Lord, despite the limitations of human language. Two thousand years later, it has moved and softened my heart in the time I’ve spent with it.

If this passage isn’t yet something you’ve committed to memory, I invite you to start doing that today. Reading this canticle each day, in the morning or at night, is a simple way to meditate on these verses and draw closer to both our Lady and our Lord. Perhaps you can offer this time of prayer as a Christmas gift to the Child Jesus. Just don’t be surprised when it’s you who receive the gifts of greater hope, stronger faith, and more joy.

Ponder:

For what can you praise the Lord today?

Pray:

Jesus, as we draw closer to the celebration of Your birth, guide me to a greater appreciation of Your tremendous love for me and for all of Your children. Amen.