On this Sunday, which brings us closer to Christmas, we have a very moving but not romantic image: two women, meeting to praise God for the gift of motherhood. Those who have not had children consider pregnancy as a time surrounded only by the joy of the growing belly, by the confidence of waiting, by the countdown. Those who have given birth know very well that pregnancy is also a time of morning sickness, pain and labor. The expectation set forth in this scene, not decorated with stars and hearts, is very close to our experience of becoming a real person. A grown woman “ endures ” a pregnancy so difficult that the baby is forced to move in the womb and a girl “ hurries ” to get up and go to an unknown city in the most remote region. A young girl who allows herself to wander on unsafe roads can be robbed and a grown woman who has to bear the weight of her belly. Saint Luke admirably “ captures ” this situation through the action of John. The child in the process of formation shows an extraordinary liveliness when he feels the coming of the Lord. Perhaps this image reminds us and reveals to us the beauty of knowing Christ. Between love and mercy, this is what surprises us: being “enchanted” by Jesus Christ ! Sometimes not feeling it is because of boredom, because our own heart has suffered from incurable cardiac sclerosis. We sometimes have an atrophied heart that cannot support the continuous movement of systole and diastole. Mary, as we know, did not calculate the convenience and did not take advantage of the rest period during a high-risk pregnancy. The gift of her son and the angel’s announcement of Elizabeth moved Mary deeply. The drive to share and the joy of giving led her to Elizabeth on a journey to find her motivation and purpose in the Holy Spirit. The angel Gabriel told Mary that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit upon seeing Mary. The remarkable scene took place inside the home of Elizabeth and Zechariah. Not to be forgotten was the silence of her cousin’s husband. This aphasia should not be seen as an angry punishment from the angel (aka God), but rather as a radical opportunity given to Zechariah to learn the value of words through silence and listening.

Elizabeth says very little in the Gospels, but when she does speak, she seems to know what she is saying. Zechariah responds to the angel’s long-awaited promise by placing her own limitations at the center: How can I know this? I am an old man, and my wife is growing old . Zechariah utters a phrase that emphasizes his self-centeredness by diverting attention from listening to the words. In today’s Gospel passage, Elizabeth is clearly moved by the mystery of her and Mary’s pregnancy, but she is not moved by the spectacle. Her cry of joy is for the young girl who came to visit her, who led Jesus to John.

Furthermore, Elizabeth shows a further important aspect of the person and the stature of the believer. Listening to Mary’s greeting is no longer something intellectual, conceptual, but goes so far into the soul as to move it from the depths. While it is said of Mary that she wanted to go quickly to a region of Judea, Elizabeth completes this journey by taking the announcement from her ears to her heart. In biblical anthropology, the heart is truly the seat of emotions, of feelings, of life being born and developing. Elizabeth emphasizes the whole dimension of the response to the proclamation of the Gospel.

In this sense, we can understand the Old Testament reference to the second reading as recalling Psalm 40, according to the Greek version, to express Christ’s response and as disciples – of all believers – we say together: Here I am, I come to do your will!

Father Peter Nguyen Van Cao