39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."
"Blessed is she who believed..." One of the many things that I am drawn to in this account of the Visitation is Mary's faith. There are so many other questions that I want to ask: why did she go "in haste"? Why did she go to be with Elizabeth? What would it be like to be Mary or Elizabeth, filled with joy at God's work in me? By journeying to visit Elizabeth, probably on foot, is she trying to show all of us modern women that exercise during pregnancy is important? (Okay, that last one is a bit of a joke.) But amidst all these questions, my heart rests and reflects on Mary's faith in the "fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." That she would bear the Son of God. That the Lord would take care of her as she received His will and lived it out. And even more than these two, she believed His word of love to her. I'm not sure that Scripture says anywhere, "And then God said, 'Mary, I love you and am with you always.'" But that is what He says to all of us in our hearts, through the events of our lives, through the fact that we live and breathe, through the beauty of the natural world and the created individuals around us. So she must also have heard His word of love to her, and BELIEVED it. I hear His loving word to me so often, and I think it goes in one ear and out the other sometimes; I am so quick to forget that He loves me. I know this because I find myself basing my actions during the day on inner fear and insecurity, "I have to do this or someone will be mad." "I am going to take this for myself, because no one else is thinking of me or they would give it to me." How was Mary able to go visit her cousin Elizabeth in the first few, sometimes physically challenging months of pregnancy? Because her heart was strong and secure in the word of love that God had spoken to her. It reverberated in her heart, over and over again; I love you, I love you, I love you. I picture her looking up at the sky on the way to see Elizabeth, maybe noticing a bird that made her smile, or a shade of blue that delighted her heart, and remembering, "He loves me, He loves me, He loves me." Resting in this good truth gave her joy.
What is God's word of love to me today?
What good truth is He calling me to rest with inwardly as I go about doing the things He gives me to do today?
(By Heidi Emmanual, Pro Sanctity member, NE)
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