“Of all women, you are the most blessed”: Mic 5:1-4; Heb 10:5-10; Lk 1:39-45 (Advent C 4)

 

“Of all women, you are the most blessed”

Mic 5:1-4; Heb 10:5-10; Lk 1:39-45 (Advent C 4)

“Mary said, My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord”

 

On this last Sunday before Christmas, our Gospel reading prepares us to witness Christ’s birth.  When the angel Gabriel announced the good news, Mary believed the prophecy. She was certain of the message. The gospel reading also recalls Mary’s actions after the announcement of Jesus’s birth. Mary visited Elizabeth, her cousin, who was also with a child. She went up into the hill country. Mary’s arrival and the presence of her Son quickly show their effects. As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting her child leapt in her womb (Lk 1:41) and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.

 

See the careful distinction in the choice of words! Elizabeth was the first to hear the voice, but her son John was the first to feel the effects of grace. She heard as one hears naturally but he leapt because of the mystery. She sensed the coming of Mary, but he sensed the coming of God. The women spoke of grace as the Spirit worked on their babies inside. The incomprehensible was working incomprehensibly within the mothers. Elizabeth had been filled with the Spirit after she conceived. But Mary was conceived at the announcement of the angel. Elizabeth said, “Blessed are you among women” (Lk 1:42).

 

You who hear and believe are blessed! Every soul that believes and conceives gives birth to the Word of God. Such a soul recognizes his works and proclaims the greatness of the Lord. According to the flesh, only one woman can be the mother of Christ but in the world of faith, Christ is the fruit of all of us. Every soul can receive the Word of God if it is pure and preserves itself in chastity and modesty. The soul that has been able to reach this state proclaims the greatness of the Lord.

 

Nothing cannot be added to the Lord’s greatness by human words. Only good or religious acts that a soul performs magnify the image of God. Christ is the image of God. The human soul is shaped in the likeness of God (Gen 1:27). So, the soul has some share in that greatness. It is appropriate in this season of Advent that we consider the role of Mary in God’s plan of salvation. Elizabeth describes Mary as the first disciple who believed in God’s word. Mary's faith enabled her to recognize the work of God in her people’s history and her own life. Her openness to God allowed God to work (Lk 1:38) through her so that salvation might come to everyone. Because of this, Mary is a model and symbol of the Church. May we be like Mary, open and cooperative in God's plan for salvation.

 

“The upright see and rejoice; they consider the love of the Lord”