By Most Rev Prakash Mallavarapu
Archbishop of Visakhapatnam
The New Year tells us of the progress of time and tells us human beings that the journey is crossing one more mile stone. And the journey continues till the point of departure occasioned by the inevitable death to come.
Meanwhile the journey of life has to continue not just mechanically drifting along the current, but with deliberate and personal involvement guided by a vision and a goal to reach. For us Christian believers it is God and His Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ who direct and guide us. How do we listen and how we understand this God who keeps revealing Himself and His plan for our life?
In the Christmas season it is the members of the holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph who are in the focus. I want to reflect along with you on the “journey” of Mary and Joseph and the Child Jesus. We should also see the meaning of the journey of the Church and the theme of the Synod – 2021-2023: Journeying together in Communion, Participation, and Mission.
The journey with a given call and mission:
The journeys of the Holy Family are journeys of faith. In the course of their journey they were guided and directed by the Word coming from God. During the one long journey there were several journeys for a specific purpose, and to a specific place and at specific time. The first journey mentioned is that of our Blessed Mother who went “in haste to the hill country” to visit her relative, Elizabeth. It was a journey “in order to be there for Elizabeth” who in her old age conceived and was six months pregnant.
The journey and the visit with Elizabeth was an act of faith and an act of charity. It is an act of faith in the first place as it was a response to God’s plan, believing and obeying Him. Our Blessed Mother undertakes this journey responding to the needy situation of Elizabeth and Zachariah which was also revealed by God through the Angel Gabriel. The Holy Spirit overshadowing our Blessed Mother led her to take up this journey and the same Holy Spirit inspires Elizabeth to recognize in faith the truth. She was joyful in encountering the “Mother of God”: “Why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me” (Lk 1: 43).
We can also see how this visit to Elizabeth was also to make known to others that the time of the fulfillment of the promise of the Messiah has come! The household of Zachariah and Elizabeth, their neighbors and kinsfolk present on the occasion of the circumcision of the John the Baptist are also told of God’s plan for the redemption of Israel. The presence of Our Blessed Mother carrying in her womb the “Son of God” and the birth of John the Baptist as the precursor were events of God’s revelation: “And you child, will be called the prophet of the Most High and will go before the Lord to prepare his way”. “And you child will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways” (Lk 1:76).
Tomorrow: The Journey to Bethlehem