Advent enters its final week with a reading from Luke on the Visitation, when Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth. The scene captures both women expecting a child of their own as foretold by the angel of the Lord in the two “annunciations”, one to Mary and the other to Elizabeth’s husband, Zechariah. When two pregnant women come together there is much to share and exchange. For these two women, it was the exchange and sharing of their faith.
In sharing their faith, each responded with joy. Joy started to spread from the elderly to the unborn. When it comes to joy, age is definitely not a discriminating factor. For Elizabeth, it was conceiving a child much later in life. Overwhelmed, one can easily forget that a woman like Elizabeth would have experienced the anguish and stigma living in such a time. For the ageless John, he leapt for joy at hearing the voice of Mary. How about that for an expression of joy?
For Mary, her joy was recognised by Elizabeth. In the words of her cousin “Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made to her by the Lord would be fulfilled” Mary’s joy resides in her faith. Her faith is evident in how she responded to the Word of God. Mary demonstrated her faith by an openness to the Word and letting it take root deep in the heart. The Word of God became her own in the canticle, the Magnificat.
As the day of the Lord’s coming draws near, may the words and phrases that we will hear have a place in each one of us.
Published: 20 December 2024
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