THE VISIT OF MARY TO ELIZABETH

Luke 1:39-45

Today is the last Sunday of Advent. The season is about to end and we are closer to the Christmas celebration. It is almost general that at this period, houses, churches, schools and hospitals put on the Christmas decorations. Commercials and advertisements pull everyone to the stores. Christmas music fills the air. Flowers adorn all the places. Exchange of Christmas cards and gifts pass from friends to loved ones and wishes of Merry Christmas replace our traditional greetings. There are banquets to attend, parties you can’t afford to miss, family gatherings to plan and cooking to be done for Christmas celebration. All these and many other activities become our schedule for Christmas.

I will say without hesitation that Christmas is about gift; you will all agree with me that everybody at least receives or gives a gift. And the gospel reading of today presents to us the same context of Christmas gift where we find Mary, after receiving God's gift at the annunciation, sets out to share this gift with her cousin Elizabeth.

In the text of the gospel we have an amazing event taking place. We are shown, side by side, the two women, one seemingly too old to have a child, but destined to bear the last prophet of the Old Covenant, of the age that was passing away; and the other woman, seemingly not ready to have a child, but destined to bear the One Who was Himself the beginning of the New Covenant, the age that would not pass away. This meeting of these two expectant women is more than a meeting to speak to each other about babies kicking and moving about. It’s more than a meeting to discuss the issues of pregnancy. It is an amazing prophetic meeting where, not only do we see Mary and Elizabeth coming together for fellowship and comfort, but we see our Lord and John the Baptist meeting for the first time even before they are born. At this event of the Visitation, we see the meeting of the Old Testament or Old Covenant with the New Covenant.

What is the significance of this visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth before the birth of Jesus? What is the meaning of this for us today? We have to know that we are called to share with others the life and joy that Jesus brings to us. The presence of Jesus within Mary brought joy to Elizabeth. This is the kind of experience Advent has been preparing us for these four weeks – to be able to reflect to others the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives. In our exchange of gifts, we are also called to exchange the presence of Jesus in our lives. It is a call to charity, not only exchange of gifts, but also and mostly the exchange of the joy that Jesus brings to us.

This beautiful meeting of Mary and Elizabeth leads us into the very center of Advent, we are called to bring Jesus to others. We can only be able to do that is we accept others as our brothers and sisters and acknowledge that whatever they are going through concern us too. In this final week of Advent season, the Word of God invites us to discover anew the true meaning of Christmas -'Emmanuel' i.e. 'God is with us.' Micah challenges us to hope in God; the author of Hebrews calls us to do the will of God as best as we can discern that will; and the Gospel invits to trust always in God as Mary did, so that we can bring forth the Word made flesh and be a sign of God’s presence to one another.

So what message do we take home this Sunday? I suggest that we ask ourselves: is there someone or a situation in my family or in the world for whom or for which my presence, my contribution might make a difference? Then do it because surely somebody is in need of you.