Friday 21 December

St Peter Canisius, Priest & Doctor

Song of Songs 2:8-14, or Zephaniah 3:14-18,
Ps 33, Luke 1:39-45

The delight of two women

As soon as she heard the news about her cousin Elizabeth being pregnant, Mary lost no time in travelling about 130 kilometres to visit her. The haste, the joy and the rugged journey are all heralded by the lovely passage from the Song of Songs. The lover described as “leaping over the mountains” and “bounding over the hills” is clearly an image of Jesus being carried by Mary over the hill country of Judah. Then the obvious delight shown by both women as they met is a joy to imagine. Mary, “of all women, you are the most blessed…”