The virgin Mary hurried to visit elderly Elizabeth, and “As she entered the house of Zechariah, she greeted her.” This moment was like an angel bringing joyful news, which the child in Elizabeth’s womb immediately sensed.
It was as if music played, calling for a dance and signaling the end of sadness, so the child leaped for joy.
The Holy One doesn’t live in the temple; he is in her mother’s womb, “mere flesh-made heaven.” Humanity and divinity now intertwined in the womb’s exultation and the flesh of two women.
Mary’s greeting struck Elizabeth with heavenly love and bounced back as a blessing. A spirit of blessing should accompany every dialogue that aims to be creative. To those who share a home with me and those who have given me so much in life, I will echo Elizabeth’s first words: Bless you.
Blessed are you among women. On all women, the blessing is extended, on all the daughters of Eve, on all the mothers of the world. And blessed are you who believed.
It resonates with the first of the many beatitudes of the gospel and wraps Mary’s faith like a cloak of joy: Faith is embracing the beauty of living under the sunshine of God.
Christmas is the holy certitude that humans have God in their blood; inside the humble, stubborn beat of my heart beats God’s heart that — as in expectant mothers — beats just below mine and sustains it. It keeps pulsing and will never stop.