Fourth Sunday of Advent
Luke 1:39-45
A Christmas quip goes: “Don’t get so preoccupied in what the world has to sell that you miss what God has to give”.
In today’s gospel, we have two wonderful women who got pregnant in very unusual circumstances.
First, we have Elizabeth, who in her old age has managed to become pregnant after years and years of trying to have a baby. Second, we have Mary who is betrothed to Joseph but they are still not living together and are not yet married but because of the Holy Spirit, she conceived and is now pregnant too.
These two women who have been blessed by God, can’t help but talk about these things between themselves.
In the case of Elizabeth, it must have been very difficult for her for many years. In the Jewish culture, a married couple which had no child or children were considered cursed by God, because they may have done something offensive to God or have done a grave sin. And for Zechariah and Elizabeth this was a very tough issue to confront. Because both of them had lived holy lives and complied with all the precepts and commandments of God, to be accused of having committed a grave sin by her neighbours would have been very tough. However, because they had no child they could not disprove this suspicion. But now, because of God’s blessing, it seems that nobody could accuse them of anything and that is why Elizabeth felt so happy.
In the case of Mary, she must have been very bewildered about what was happening to her. Would Joseph believe her when she said that an angel came to her and because of the Holy Spirit she became pregnant? How would her neighbours be thinking of her? In the Jewish culture, there are three stages of the marriage process. First is the courtship, where the man and the woman would try to get to know each other. Second is the betrothal, where the man and the woman agree to get married but they can’t live together yet. Last is the wedding, where after the betrothal period, the man will go to the woman’s house and go to the groom’s place where they will get married and celebrate for as long as a week. So, to be pregnant to during the betrothal stage or any stage before the marriage is a huge scandal for the man and the woman could be punished for that.
So, we have the case of two pregnant women who are most blessed by God. They are sharing each other’s experiences of the grace of God. Most probably, they are wondering about what is God’s plan for their sons. They would also be wondering how these pregnancies would have an impact in their lives. They must also be talking about the practical things about being pregnant. They would have been shopping around about the latest pregnancy dresses at that time. They would have been enquiring about who would be the best midwife in town.
This whole event of Mary visiting Elizabeth is a scene of humility from Mary and the value of being visited. For Mary to visit Am Karem from her place in Nazareth would have taken four days of walking. And also, we should appreciate the fact that because Mary is carrying the Son of God and Elizabeth is carrying the precursor, it should be Elizabeth doing the visiting and not the other way around. That is why Elizabeth exclaimed, “Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?” And yet, Mary visited Elizabeth because she knew the needs of Elizabeth were more important than her needs during that time.
This Christmas, it is another opportunity for us to visit friends, families and loved ones. More importantly, people whom we haven’t seen in a long time. Despite modern technology like mobile phones, video calling, Facebook and Skype, nothing beats a personal visit. We have to be careful though with COVID-19 still circulating in our communities.
Let the gospel for today inspire us with these two great women who have been blessed by God immensely and also let us take time to visit our loved ones because two thousand years ago, Jesus visited us and lived amongst us. As he is now coming to visit us again this Christmas, let us also make our hearts ready for his coming.