When the
angel revealed his message to the Virgin Mary he gave her a sign to win her
trust. He told her of the motherhood of an old and barren woman to show that
God is able to do all that he wills.
When she
hears this Mary sets out for the hill country. She does not disbelieve God’s
word; she feels no uncertainty over the message or doubt about the sign. She
goes eager in purpose, dutiful in conscience, hastening for joy.
Filled with
God, where would she hasten but to the heights? The Holy Spirit does not
proceed by slow, laborious efforts. Quickly, too, the blessings of her coming
and the Lord’s presence are made clear: as soon as Elizabeth heard
Mary’s greeting the child leapt in her womb, and she was filled with the Holy
Spirit.
Notice the
contrast and the choice of words. Elizabeth is the first to hear Mary’s voice,
but John is the first to be aware of grace. She hears with the ears of the
body, but he leaps for joy at the meaning of the mystery. She is aware of
Mary’s presence, but he is aware of the Lord’s: a woman aware of a woman’s
presence, the forerunner aware of the pledge of our salvation. The women speak
of the grace they have received while the children are active in secret,
unfolding the mystery of love with the help of their mothers, who prophesy by
the spirit of their sons.
The child
leaps in the womb; the mother is filled with the Holy Spirit, he fills his
mother with the same Spirit. John leaps for you, and the spirit of Mary
rejoices in her turn. When John leaps for joy Elizabeth is filled with the Holy
Spirit, but we know that though Mary’s spirit rejoices she does not need to be
filled with the Holy Spirit. Her son, who is beyond our understanding, is
active in his mother in a way beyond our understanding. Elizabeth is filled
with the Holy Spirit after conceiving John, while Mary is filled with the Holy
Spirit before conceiving the Lord. Elizabeth says: Blessed are you
because you have believed.
You also
are blessed because you have heard and believed. A soul that believes both
conceives and brings forth the Word of God and acknowledges his works.
Let Mary’s
soul be in each of you to proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Let her spirit be
in each to rejoice in the Lord. Christ has only one mother in the flesh, but we
all bring forth Christ in faith. Every soul receives the Word of God if only it
keeps chaste, remaining pure and free from sin, its modesty undefiled. The soul
that succeeds in this proclaims the greatness of the Lord, just as Mary’s soul
magnified the Lord and her spirit rejoiced in God her Savior. In another place
we read: Magnify the Lord with me. The Lord is magnified, not because the human
voice can add anything to God but because he is magnified within us. Christ is
the image of God, and if the soul does what is right and holy, it magnifies
that image of God, in whose likeness it was created and, in magnifying the
image of God, the soul has a share in its greatness and is exalted.
Comments