During the final days of Advent, we read one of my favorite scripture passages, Luke 1:39-45: The Visitation. In a series of verses just preceding this one, Gabriel announces it is Mary who has been chosen by God to bear the Christ and that her cousin, Elizabeth, despite her “old age,” is also expecting a baby (John the Baptist). Filled with the Holy Spirit, Mary “set out…in haste” (Lk 1:39); she ran (because the Holy Spirit is a Being of action and movement) to her cousin, literally to share the Lord with her and assist during the last months of her pregnancy.
When Mary arrives, Elizabeth, also filled with the Holy Spirit, immediately acknowledges her as the Blessed Mother and rejoices that “the mother of my Lord should come to me.” This is a joy-filled encounter of mutual recognition and thanksgiving. What’s more, Elizabeth not only hails Mary as the Mother of God, she also praises and blesses her for being open to and trusting Him, for it is only through Mary’s faith and fiat that God’s will is accomplished. Elizabeth rightly proclaims that Mary is blessed in her spiritual motherhood. Just as important, though, her fullness of grace is realized because she first “believed that what was spoken to [her] by the Lord would be fulfilled.” It is Mary’s faith and openness to God that leads to the fulfillment of our salvation.
We have made our way through Advent, filled with quiet and patient waiting for Jesus’s coming. Now celebrating the Christmas Octave, may we reflect on the glory and hope of Christ’s birth and remember the encounter of these faithful cousins. Open to God’s love and willing to trust and believe in His goodness, may they inspire us to repeatedly order ourselves to Him so as to fully participate in His salvific love.
Sistering to Sophia 