朋友们，《默示录》第十一章中，神视者在天境中看到约柜——十条诫命残迹（亦即雅威与其子民同在的标志）的保管处。随即，我们读到一位皇后将要产子。一条巨龙等着要吞噬婴孩，母子被救走，弥额尔和他的天使与敌人交战。

 

这一系列事件并非偶然。在今天的福音中，我们看到玛利亚是真正的约柜。她的子宫里孕育出道成肉身的圣言、天主的实际存在。当她去看望表姐依撒伯尔，还是胎儿的洗者若翰在母亲腹中欢喜踊跃，就像达味王在约柜前跳跃舞蹈一样。

 

但是既是真正的约柜又是以色列母后的玛利亚还是一名战士。以色列经常带着约柜上战场，以色列王及其母后都是战斗人物。玛利亚全身投入与堕落天使们的精神战争中。

 

天主教教会正在经受的骇人危机就是魔鬼的杰作。这场风暴几乎破坏教会的方方面面。那我们该怎样做？与基督这位战斗之王及玛利亚这位战斗之后并肩作战、加入这场庞大的精神战争、拼命去拨乱反正——用的并非凡间那些不堪一击的武器，而是用圣神的武器。

 

Friends, in the eleventh chapter of the book of Revelation, the visionary sees in the heavenly place the Ark of the Covenant—that box in which the remnants of the Ten Commandments were kept, that sign of Yahweh’s presence among his people. Immediately after, we hear of a queen who is about to give birth to a son. As a dragon waits to devour the child, the mother and child are swept away, and a great war breaks out between Michael and his angels and the enemy.

 

This sequence is not accidental. In today’s Gospel, we see Mary as the true Ark of the Covenant. She bore in her own womb the Word made flesh and the very presence of God. When she visits her cousin Elizabeth, the infant John the Baptist leapt in his mother’s womb, doing his own version of David’s dance before the Ark.

 

But Mary, as both the true Ark and the Queen Mother of Israel, is also a fighter. Israel frequently brought the Ark into battle with them, and the king of Israel and his queen mother were warrior figures. Mary is all about spiritual warfare against powers and principalities.

 

This terrible crisis we’re passing through in the Catholic Church has been a diabolical masterpiece. it undermines the work of the Church in practically every way. So what do we do? Get in the army of Christ the Warrior-King and Mary the Warrior-Queen. Enter into the great spiritual struggle. And fight to set things right—not with the puny weapons of the world but with the weapons of the Spirit.

 

朋友们，今天的福音是匝加利亚在儿子洗者若翰出生时的祷文。这篇祷文对于神父、修道者及所有诵念日课的人来说是特别重要的。根据祷文的拉丁语版中首个词语，我们称之为“赞主经”，或者“匝加利亚颂歌”。

 

该祷文出彩之处在于（还有教会要求神父每天诵念这篇祷文的原因是）它精炼地总结了整个救恩史、把耶稣及洗者若翰与以色列伟大的历史故事联系起来。

 

若翰被视为《圣经旧约》的最后一位同时又是最伟大的先知。就像所有先知一样，他的任务是“走在主之前，为主铺路”，亦即指出、解释、点明——然后消失。

 

Friends, today’s Gospel contains the prayer of Zechariah at the birth of his son, John the Baptist. This prayer is especially precious to priests, religious, and all those who pray the liturgy of the hours on a daily basis. It’s called the "Benedictus," from its first word in Latin, or the "Canticle of Zechariah."

 

What’s wonderful about this prayer (and why the Church asks its ministers to pray it every day) is that it sums up magnificently the whole history of salvation, putting Jesus and John in the context of the great story of Israel.

 

John is seen here as the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets. His role is, like all the prophets, to "go before the Lord to prepare his way." His job is to point, explain, indicate—and then disappear.