Dear Brothers and Sisters,
How is it that the Lord or the mother of the Lord comes to me? And yet he does in every Eucharist, in every gospel, and is waiting to come to me this Christmas! It is a remarkable event that I can often take for granted and yet the Lord is always the One who comes to me.
In this wonderful gospel today who is visiting whom? It appears that Mary is visiting her cousin Elizabeth, but she must have done so many of times. What is different about this time? She brings her Son. She brings Jesus Christ; she has him within. And Elizabeth is filled with joy.
In her womb John the Baptist leaps for joy because he recognized Christ!! Elizabeth did not, only thanks to John does she realize that Mary is different; she has Christ. John is the precursor even for his mother. Then Elizabeth says, here is Christ: blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Here is the good news! John announces this in the only way he can: he jumps; he can’t speak so he jumps. Imagine him jumping up and down in the womb. The babies move around somewhat, no? But this one jumps, leaps. This is what happens when you hear the good news. When it is announced, we leap for joy. When you encounter Christ, when you see he has been with you all the time, it is fantastic news!! Who brings this news? It is Mary. She always brings us Christ.
And she has an eagerness to bring him. When you encounter Christ there is an explosion of joy and all is changed, totally, isn’t this true? Do you live in this way? If you are not willing to ask Our Lord to come to you this Christmas, ask the Virgin Mary and she will bring him to you. The preceding event for Mary was the Annunciation. Mary says let God’s plan be done in me and then the angel departs, and Mary goes in haste to bring Christ to her cousin. It is not by chance that Luke uses this word. She had an eagerness to go. In order for you and me to know Jesus Christ, Mary went in haste. She went to bring this good news, this kerygma, this word of evangelization. She doesn’t waste a minute. She brings salvation to Elizabeth and Zechariah. John cannot bring salvation, only Jesus Christ can. What joy this is for them!
This joy leads Mary to announce the Magnificat, which is a wonderful teaching of what God is doing for her, and for us. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifts up the lowly. God puts us in their thrones. God gives us a power to announce the gospel without fear in the house, with the kids, in your office, with your spouse, with a friend. It is a power you didn’t have before. The Lord wants you to be humble, why? So that you and I can receive this visit. The proud cannot receive Christ. They cannot accept that there be another king. They want to kill him because of their pride. The religious leaders also cannot accept another Messiah because of power and money. Today is the same issue. Because of power and money, we may not receive this visit of Mary with her Son. She brings him to us out of sheer mercy; we don’t deserve it. Elizabeth realizes this since she is humble: who am I that the mother of the Lord comes to me, visits me to bring me this good news!!
Who receives this good news first? It is Mary. She welcomes it in her womb. And who is the second one to receives it? It is Elizabeth. Pay attention, brothers. Women receive the good news first. The same happened at the resurrection. Women have an impressive sensibility, especially to receive a good news; it is the truth. They receive it more than men. Christ always manifests himself to women. Don’t you see this in your house? Courage, Our Lord always gives himself to the humble. We are all sinners, poor people, and we desperately need this visit of the Lord in our house, in our hearts this Christmas.
