This week, our focus shifts from the John the Baptist’s message of repentance to the meeting of John the Baptist’s mother, Elizabeth, and the mother of our Savior, the Blessed Virgin of Nazareth. And this encounter has deep spiritual significance for us as well in our Christmas preparations.
Remember last week, I talked about a book by C.S. Lewis called “Surprised by Joy”. Well, our Gospel today certainly contains a few surprises.
The first is what we might consider to be a social surprise—a surprise from a social perspective. Between these two women, it was Elizabeth who had a much higher standing than her lowly cousin Mary. Recall that Elizabeth was the wife of a high-ranking priest in the Jerusalem Temple, Zechariah, who had the privilege of entering the sanctuary of the Temple to offer incense. Elizabeth too had the social honor of old age. She was Mary’s elder, and that meant something in Jewish society. You show deference to your elders.
And Mary was young and betrothed to an otherwise unknown craftsmen from a poor and distant region of Israel, Nazareth. According to social convention, all honor and deference should have flowed from Mary to Elizabeth.
But the Gospel account describes the reversal of these social conventions. The high-ranking Elizabeth falls all over herself to express honor to Mary, her unwed, pregnant teenage cousin. Mary had been venerated already once in the Gospel now, first by the angel, who calls Mary God’s favored one, full of grace. And now Elizabeth calls Mary, “most blessed of all women”—most blessed of all women of all places of all time. There could be no higher honorific.
Why does Elizabeth make this claim? Because she recognizes that Mary’s child is her king. “What have I done to earn such a great honor that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” She asks. Elizabeth refers to Mary as “the mother of my Lord”, and that is the title of a queen of Israel. For remember, in ancient Israel, it was not the king’s wife who reigned as queen, but his mother. The queen-mother’s honor and influence were second only to the king himself.
Through the holy Spirit, Elizabeth recognizes Mary as the Queen Mother, the “First Lady” of the kingdom of Israel, and so she treats her as such, showing her all deference and veneration.
So, the first Gospel surprise, we could say, teaches us that the tradition of venerating Mary is deeply scriptural. The custom of showing honor to the Mother of Jesus began in her lifetime by both angels and humans.
This is an important Advent lesson. Honoring Mary prepares us for Christmas. After all, in preparation for that first Christmas, she was honored by both angels and humans. Honoring mary leads us to ponder the meaning of Christmas. Honoring Mary honors God who made her, and brings us more deeply in union with God and the way God has chosen to act in salvation history.
Mary was a woman of incredible faith who believed the prophets and trusted the angelic messengers, even when the message seemed beyond human credibility. She is an example to all of us on how to respond to God with faith.
St. Josemaria Escriva has a beautiful prayer asking God to help make Mary’s faith our own. He liked to pray, “O Lord, I wish to receive you with the same purity, humility, and devotion, that your Blessed Mother received you”.
We are able to receive the Lord more deeply when we emulate her purity, humility, devotion, faith, hope, and love. So, don’t let a day go by without showing honor to Mary. A hail mary or the angelus upon waking, at noon, and in the evening. A daily rosary. The wearing of her miraculous medal. The devout keeping of a statue of Mary. Meditation on her virtues. The singing of a marian hymn before bed. These devotions help us to be ever-mindful of our Lady’s never-failing intercession and to emulate her holy example.
The second Gospel surprise is the magnificent detail of John the Baptist leaping for joy in his mother’s womb. What a joyfully surprising detail! Who would have thought that an infant in the womb of one woman, could be attuned to the presence of Christ in the womb of another. And recall it was just mere days after Christ’s conception through the power of the Holy Spirit.
How does this joyful surprise speak to our own preparation for Christmas? John the Baptist, even before he was born, showed us the proper response to encountering the presence of Christ: a leap of joy. We are reminded that Advent isn’t about frantic busyness or mere surface-level festivities. It is about allowing our hearts to recognize and rejoice in the Lord’s nearness.
As we enter into these final days of Advent, may we imitate John’s interior response to Christ’s presence. Let us discard any and all forms of self-absorption and sinful distractions, so that our souls can “leap” with pure, unrestrained joy at our celebration of the Lord’s birth. In this way, our hearts will be truly ready to celebrate the marvel of Christmas, the greatest surprise of all, that the God of all creation, the ancient of days, takes on the flesh to save us from our sins, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
