Mary visits Elizabeth
Mary set out in those days and traveled to the hill country in haste 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 and said, “Most 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.”
REFLECTION
THE INFANT IN MY WOMB LEAPED FOR JOY.
“The winter is past, the rains are over and gone,” says the Song of Songs. “The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance” (2:11, 13). An individual who is deeply in love noticeably becomes a changed person.
God is compared to a lover who springs across the mountains and leaps across the hills to meet his beloved. Such is the experience of one who has gone through a personal encounter with the Lord and now feels God’s presence in one’s life.
Mary turns into a burst of sunshine upon accepting God’s offer to become Jesus’ mother. She is ecstatic upon learning from the angel that the long-awaited Savior has finally come and is now in her womb. This is the kind of joy that needs to be shared immediately, and so Mary, with the Child in her womb, takes the long journey to Zechariah’s house and shares the good news with Elizabeth. Mary will also attend to the needs of her elderly cousin who, at this point, is heavy with child, as she is already in her sixth month.
John the Baptist leaps with joy inside Elizabeth’s womb. The baby could sense the very strong presence of Jesus in Mary’s womb. This early, John seems to want to fulfill his mission as the Baptist. What great joy brings together these two women upon whom the Lord has shown his favor.
Do you experience God as your lover?