BURST OF BLESSINGS
The story of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the spirit of today’s liturgy is the exemplification of God’s graciousness. The grace that she received from God is the greatest wish of every Jewish lady: that of being chosen by Yahweh- God to be the mother of the much awaited Messiah. With such experience of God’s goodness, she goes with solicitude to visit Elizabeth, her cousin, to share the news of her unique pregnancy and to assist Elizabeth who was herself gifted with motherhood in her advanced years. The words of Mary’s “Magnificat,” however, underline to us that her visit to her cousin was more than a mere family event. Everything is part of the spiral of blessings that reaches out from her to the generations after her.
This has always been God’s way — that His grace burst out from the one He calls to the generations after. With Abraham, He promised blessings to the descendants after him. With Jacob, He blessed the 12 tribes that will form the chosen nation of Israel. With Moses, God opened His gift of liberation for all of Moses’ people, no matter how stubborn and stiff-necked they were. In David, Yahweh-God extended the blessings of a kingdom to generations after, until around 525 B.C. In the course of His three-year ministry, Jesus Himself used the figure of the sun to illustrate how the Heavenly Father spreads His benevolence to all, even to the good and the bad, the just and the unjust. In fact, during the evening meal that marked His last night with the disciples, Jesus ended the meal with a prayer of intercession for His disciples and for all those who will come to believe because of them.
Human memory works in a similar pattern. Good deeds done by an ancestor are remembered by others and they become a benediction for their children and their children’s children. The descendants reap the harvest of goodness long after the well-appreciated forefather is laid to rest.
It is no wonder then that grace is described in songs as a river flowing. Grace flows on and on — it bursts its way through. Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP
REFLECTION QUESTION: Look into your own family line. Identify each member’s contribution to your life of blessings as a family. In what way can you also contribute to the burst of goodness and blessings in your family and the future generations?
Thank You, Lord, for my family. Use me to bless them even more, Lord.
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