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December 21, 2023Elizabeth is blessed with a child but questions her worthiness for Mary’s visitation in her condition. She asks, “how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” This must be rhetorical like so many questions in the canticles and psalms since an answer does not follow. The rhetoric encourages reflection. Mary visits Elizabeth to reveal that she carries the Savior, apparent from the efficacious leap in Elizabeth’s womb. These women together are the proclamation of Baptism, of the universal church, and are the promise of a new covenant through the Pascal Mystery of Christ.
None of our beliefs stand alone without the annunciation to the Blessed Mother, her fiat, and Elizabeth’s bearing of her son, John. Yet, a distinction separates the two women. Elizabeth feels like she is unworthy to receive the mother of her Lord. How often we feel unworthy—we know we are not always worthy of grace. Yet, it makes no difference for the pouring out of God’s grace upon all. St. Louis Marie de Montfort Grignion, OP teaches that Mary is not necessary to do God’s work, but God chooses to grant graces through the Blessed Mother. Just as God becomes man through the Blessed Mother; we become divine through Jesus Christ, her Son. For this reason, we are encouraged to ask Mary’s intercession during our earthly pilgrimage. As we meditate on the Joyful mysteries, we remember to make room for Mary in our hearts so that it may become a graced place of comfort, love, and hope.
