![]() ![]() People have asked me what the highlight of the trip was. We recently visited the Holy Land, Ephesus, Rome, and other important points of church history. We pick up the narrative immediately after the angel had visited Mary, and we read, “Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah.” It’s Like Going up to Denver In that announcement, Gabriel told Mary that Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy with the child who had been conceived through the power of God in her womb. ![]() We looked at the last part of her response where she said, “So let it be unto me, even according to thy word.” That was not so much an imperative that the angel was obligated to obey but an expression of Mary’s submission to Gabriel’s announcement. Last time, we looked at Mary’s response to Gabriel, who had told her about the miraculous birth she was about to have due to the Son of God being conceived in her womb. Give us the same Spirit in our hearts that was made manifest here by your servant, Elizabeth. Our Father, we ask that you stoop to our weakness, to the fragility of our understanding and the frailty of our consciences, so that we may have ears to hear your Word and hearts that are open to receive it and rejoice in it. I pray that we will receive these words of the Lord in our minds and hearts. Mary’s visit to Elizabeth is a part of that account, and it is there for our instruction and edification. Luke gives us more information about the infancy of Jesus than any of the other Gospels. We’ve just heard part of Luke’s account of the life and ministry of Jesus. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. I will be reading from chapter 1, verse 39 through verse 45. And often, as in the Visitation, it’s a beautiful combination of the two.We’re going to continue our study of the Gospel According to Saint Luke. Sometimes we give in these encounters, and sometimes we receive. We all live and thrive in relation to others. Ultimately, the Visitation reminds us that no one is an island. Pope John Paul II acknowledged this in a 1997 homily when he reflected on the Visitation and said, “In this act of human solidarity, Mary demonstrated that authentic charity which grows within us when Christ is present.” Remember, too, that Mary is carrying Christ inside her, which gives another layer of meaning to her decision to offer support to her cousin. Sometimes, our physical presence is the best gift we can give another person. Mary’s trip also demonstrates the call of community. Mary must have been bursting to talk to a woman who could personally understand her excitement, her wonder, and probably her nervousness, too. ![]() She’s also learned that her cousin Elizabeth, believed to be too old to conceive, is expecting as well. Why does she do it? Well, think about what has just happened: She’s been told that she is pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. For Mary, the trip would have been especially grueling: She traveled to a town 80 miles away, likely on a donkey, without the comfort of paved roads, air conditioning, or shock absorbers. Q: Why does Mary visit her cousin Elizabeth? It doesn’t make sense to me for a pregnant woman to take such a long journey.Īny woman who has traveled while pregnant can tell you that it isn’t fun. ![]()
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