The Visitation, Ghirlandaio 1491, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France.

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Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.    Luke 1:41-42.

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You might recall that when the three wise men, following the star, arrived in Jerusalem they enquired of King Herod where the newborn King of the Jews was to be found (Matthew 2:1-2). Herod, feigning friendly co-operation (because Herod was psychopathically protective of his rôle as king and would do anything to protect it) enquired of the priests where the Messiah was to be born according to the prophets and tradition. The answer is today’s first reading from the book of the Prophet Micah: You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel…” Remember also that David was a shepherd boy in Bethlehem, he who became the King of Israel (1 Samuel 16:1). So Bethlehem was always known as the “City of David”. Remember also that according to Luke, Joseph was of the house or tribe of David. In obedience to the order of the Emperor Augustus, a census was to be taken and everyone had to be registered in the place they were born, which for him was Bethlehem. It turned out, of course, that the house of David was far bigger than the city of David, hence the Holy Family had to find shelter wherever they could find it, all the inns being overwhelmed, they who had traveled from Nazareth. But presumably before they knew all that, Mary had learned from the angel Gabriel not only that she was to bear the Son of God, but also that her relative Elizabeth was also pregnant and in her sixth month. That meant of course, that daily activities would be becoming more  challenging, and that help would be gratefully accepted. So in that way. “The Visitation”, the second mystery of the Rosary, took place somewhere in the hill country of Judea (Luke 1:26-38). That, by the way, is roughly 90 miles to the south of Nazareth, perhaps more than 5 days on foot. This is the legendary Middle East hospitality taken to an extreme level! 

These readings are all preparation for the glorious day commemorating the birth of Jesus. Cousin Elizabeth seems to have been the first to recognize and respond to Mary as “the mother of my Lord” and presumably from that she knew she was in the unborn presence of God. All the prophets had foreseen this moment, and the Letter to the Hebrews, today’s second reading, says of Christ, ““Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in.” These are offered according to the law. Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second.” So we are here, all of us, to follow where he led, to do the will of God, seen firstly in the birth of Jesus and our acceptance of that as a fact, then in his life, obeying God’s will in every way, and his death by refusing to betray that trust and accepting death, then in the Resurrection. And there is the model for us all. And it began all those years ago.

Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis!

Angels Garlanding the Infant Jesus, Ann Macbeth n.d., Private Collection.

A Very Happy, Blessed and Holy Christmas

to You and Your Family and Friends!

Gloria!

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