Today's Gospel

Dancing for Joy

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where each day we're exploring the genius of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Today's reading is from the Gospel of Luke 1:39-45. In those days, Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe in her womb leapt for joy, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she exclaimed with a loud voice, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And why is this granted me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."

I love this reading. It's the second Joyful Mystery of the rosary, the Visitation. The child John the Baptist dancing for joy in the womb of Elizabeth is a reflection of something that we saw in the Old Testament, which was David dancing for joy before the Ark of the Covenant. David danced for joy before the Ark of the Covenant because the Ark of the Covenant represented God's presence among the Jewish people, and so David was dancing in the presence of God. He was dancing before God. And now we have Mary visiting Elizabeth. We have the child John the Baptist in the womb of Elizabeth, dancing for joy, leaping for joy. Why? He knows that he is in the presence of God, the child Jesus in the womb of Mary, the first tabernacle. And so the child John the Baptist is dancing for joy in the presence of God, just as David was dancing for joy before the Ark of the Covenant, which represented the presence of God.

And what do we learn from this? We learn that when we live in the presence of God, we dance for joy. Our hearts leap for joy when we live in the presence of God. And when we step outside of the umbrella of His good graces, when we turn our backs on Him, when we step away or try to step away foolishly from His presence, then that joy begins to dissipate, quickly, slowly. Well, it depends on the situation, but the joy begins to dissipate. We dance for joy in the presence of God. Let's go out in the world today and be mindful of God's presence, and let's dance for joy. Be a great witness to the people of our time. Have a great day. Remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.