Mary visits Elizabeth

Luke 1:39-45

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in hast to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

Mary is blessed in so many ways. She is blessed because she is full of grace. She is blessed because she has been found worthy to be the Mother of God. She is blessed because she said “yes” to God’s invitation to play an essential role in His plan of salvation. And she is blessed because she believed that the word of the Lord spoken to her would be fulfilled.

Did Mary understand fully all of what these events meant? I don’t think so. How could she? How could anyone, even one “full of grace,” fully understand what it meant to be the Mother of the Messiah, the one sent by God to set all people free from the shakles of sin? But she trusted. That is what a disciple does: she acts on the word of God given to her, not because she fully understands, but because she trusts in God. Mary was the quintessential disciple, the first disciple of Jesus. She heard the word of God given to her, and she acted on that, believing that it would be fulfilled.

She was full of grace, and she would need that grace over the years of raising Jesus, and especially during His public ministry and passion. She watched Him grow, knowing what He would mean to the world, but not fully understanding that God’s plan would mean sorrow for her because of the sufferings of her son. Simeon warned her that a sword would pierce her heart because her Son would be the cause of the rise and fall of many in Israel. But who could imagine what lay in store for Him and, because of what lay in store for Him, what lay in store for her?

There is a popular song called, “Mary, Did You Know?” It basically asks Mary if she knew that Jesus was who the angel Gabriel said He was when he announced His birth to her. It’s a sweet song, I guess. But the premise is off. Of course she knew! Again, the angel Gabriel had told her, “He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule of the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” He told her more: “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”

She knew, though she did not fully understand what it all meant. She had to come to realize over the years, reflect back on the words of Gabriel to her, “hold all these things in her heart,” as the Scriptures tell us, before she fully realized. And in that realization came heartbreak, but also joy. God had plans for this baby in her womb. Those plans included pain and suffering, a sword that would pierce her heart. But it also included the joy of resurrection and new life. Eventually, Mary would come to understand that, too. That is why she is found among the apostles in the upper room at Pentecost. She had been through it all – His conception, His birth, His growing up, His miracle at Cana, His public ministry, His passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. As each mystery presented itself, her faith grew, as did her understanding.

Mary was the first tabernacle to hold the Real Presence of Christ. She deserves all the praise the Church gives her. Blessed is she who believed that the word of the Lord spoken to her would be fulfilled.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.