Mary and Elizabeth
The Gospel today speaks about how two different women responded to the will of God unfolding into their lives. The women are Mary, the Blessed Mother and St. Elizabeth, the wife of Zachariah and the mother of John the Baptist.
God’s will is unfolding around us, every day
It is interesting that the closing words of the Gospel from St. Elizabeth: “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” I say this because when the Archangel Gabriel came to Zechariah, he did not believe and so the angel made him dumb until the dedication of his Son in the temple.
Zechariah is struck dumb until the presentation of St. John the Baptist, when he responds in prayer. St. Elizabeth is struck with awe and goes into seclusion for 5 months when she realizes that she is pregnant in her old age… On the other hand, Mary responded to the archangel with her prayer of fiat - “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to thy word.” The difference in response between Mary and Zechariah is startling.
In both of their lives, and in our lives today God’s plan is unfolding. The challenge that they had and that we have - is do we recognize it? Do we cooperate with it?
Seclusion - A response to the unfolding of God’s will
Elizabeth’s pregnancy is something that she takes time to process. We don’t know exactly how old she was, but she was beyond child-bearing years. Her prayer was “So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace from before others.”
It could have been fear that led to her seclusion
How many of us have long standing issues with God, a wound, a regret or an unfulfilled longing that we have prayed about for so long we have given up hope. St. Elizabeth is the saint for us.
For St. Elizabeth could have had much to worry about -
Was she strong enough to endure pregnancy?
Would she suffer a miscarriage?
Would her son be healthy?
Not fear but awe - wonder at God’s plan unfolding
We can see how it is easy for these fears and worries to crowd out her life. Yet, the sense that I have from reading Luke is that Elizabeth was not in a seclusion of fear, but rather a seclusion of reflection
What has God done?
What will He do next?
How can I participate?
Zechariah and Elizabeth had talked
We see this because she clearly was communicating with Zecheriah - she knew that he had encountered an angel, and what the angel had said to him, and how he had doubted. Yet in spite of his doubts, here was the will of God unfolding in the midst of their lives.
Greeting in her ears
And so, when Mary’s greeting reaches her ears in her house near Ein Karem - about 90 miles from where Mary lived in Nazareth she and her son, St. John the Baptist is filled with the Holy Spirit - and she receives this visitation from God and participates in it with full voice as she cries out “Who am I that the Mother of My Lord should come to me?”
Filled with the Holy Spirit
John is the fore-runner of the Messiah - he is the one whom God calls to announce the coming of his son, and he does it again today. If you read the Church Fathers they often say that St. Elizabeth cries out in a loud voice because of the joy her child experienced when they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is an experience unlike any other experience we might ever have and I am sure that this day transformed the life of St. Elizabeth forever. She always remembered that day when God came to her to show her that God’s will was unfolding in her presence.
4 days to Christmas - are we ready?
In four more days we will celebrate the birth of Christ - and just as it was unfolding every day during the life of St. Elizabeth and of the Blessed Mother God’s will is unfolding around us each day. The question for us to consider is
Are we cooperating with the will of God or not?
Do we take time to recognize His will or not?
The will of God unfolds around us
Each day that goes by, God’s will unfolds around us - as it did to both Mary and St. Elizabeth. As women they took time to encounter and reflect on that unfolding in their lives - it is what made them such excellent disciples. Mary responded to the word of God immediately and with action. She got up and went with haste to visit Elizabeth who lived about 90 miles away in the hill country to the west of Jerusalem.
Elizabeth responds with reflection and prayer
Elizabeth also responded in two ways - with seclusion and reflection, as well as with praise and thanksgiving. They model for us two ways we can prepare our hearts to celebrate Christmas this year.
For those of us who are more drawn to St. Elizabeth’s response - who like to take time to ponder and to reflect here are a few suggestions to prepare for the coming of Christ.
Take some time and read through the infancy narratives of both St. Matthew (who shows us the experience of the nativity from the perspective of St. Joseph) and St. Luke (who shows us the experience of the nativity from the perspective of the Blessed Mother.
Take up the praying of the Joyful mysteries of the Rosary in these last few days leading up to Christmas. The joyful mysteries help us to think about our own lives in the context of the life of Christ. For example, when I pray the joyful mysteries I am thinking about how God’s will unfolding into the life of Mary and Elizabeth while at the same time pondering the events of my day - to understand what the Lord is doing in my life.
Mary responds with action
Mary’s response was a response of action. St. Luke tells us that she went “in haste” to the hill country of Judea to help her cousin who was in-need. That is a 90 mile journey on foot - it likely took her the better part of a week or two to make the journey. The beautiful thing is that Mary was called to action.
Acting in haste
Understanding the news of the Holy Spirit - Mary knew that Elizabeth would need help - the need was obvious and so was the solution - she would go and be with her cousin and help her through the end of her pregnancy.
That means that Mary was willing to embrace hardship so that her cousin would not be alone.
We need to respond in both ways - Seclusion to recognize the unfolding of the will of God and Haste to act when the Lord makes His way for us clear.
For us, is there someone in our lives who needs an encounter with Christ? Is there some way we can be present to them, or share God’s compassion with them in a literal, practical way?
When you gather this Christmas, is there a family member who is more “on the outside” of the family, that your presence and interest in their life might help them to become more connected?
Be open to the presence of God (like a manger)
An openness to the presence of God in our lives begins with the realization that the will of God is unfolding around us every day, all day long. The question is are we able to recognize it in our prayer and then engage and participate in it.
When the Son of God comes, will there be room at the inn?
When the Son of God comes to us this Christmas, will he find us too distracted to welcome his presence into our souls or are we preparing a place for him - a humble, simple place in the mess of our lives where the presence of God might abide and sanctify?
