The new Eve received the words of God with faith

Readings:
• Mi 5:1-4a
• Heb 10:5-10
• Lk 1:39-45

“One of the most beautiful moments in history” wrote Abp. Fulton Sheen in The World’s First Love, his wonderful book on the Virgin Mary, “was that when pregnancy met pregnancy—when childbearers became the first heralds of the King of Kings.”

That marvelous, miraculous encounter is proclaimed in today’s reading from Luke’s Gospel, and it was surely recounted to the Evangelist by Mary herself. Immediately prior (Lk 1:26-38) is the Annunciation, the declaration by the angel Gabriel to Mary that she, being full of grace and having “found favor with God”, was going to bear a son named “Jesus”. Immediately following (Lk 1:46-56) is the Magnificat, Mary’s humble hymn of thanksgiving to “God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden.”

So, in between the stunning declaration of the heavenly messenger to Mary and the exultant declaration of gratitude by Mary to her heavenly Lord, there is a voiceless exchange between two unborn babes. Elizabeth was much older than Mary and John was older than Jesus, and that was fitting since they represent the old encountering the new. “The Old Testament is here meeting the New Testament”, wrote Sheen, “the shadows dissolve with joy before the substance. All the longings and expectations of thousands of years as to Him Who would be the Saviour are now fulfilled in this one ecstatic moment when John the Baptist greets Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

Many of the early Church writers and fathers reflected upon the Visitation. Two themes often mentioned in those writings are service and sanctification. Origen wrote that Jesus “hastened” to John in order to sanctify the Forerunner, making him “a prophet for the first time.” Bede stated Mary went to Elizabeth to both congratulate the older woman on her pregnancy, and so “she might commit herself to ministry to a woman of advanced age.” We often don’t think about the fact that Mary’s visit was not a weekend outing, but lasted about three months (Lk 1:56). Mary and Elizabeth not only spent those ninety days together, but so did John and Jesus—still voiceless and yet together, united by both blood and the Holy Spirit. “A Pentecost came before Pentecost”, wrote Sheen about that singular moment of recognition, “The physical body of Christ within Mary now fills John the Baptist with the Spirit of Christ…”

Ephrem the Syrian, remarking upon this divine filling and gift, stated that the Lord “vivified Elizabeth womb first”—as she had been barren—“and then vivified the soil of Adam through his body.” Here again, the relationship between old and new is brought forward.

The first Adam had failed to follow the will and directives of God, and so succumbed to the temptation to take fruit from the forbidden tree; the new Adam would perfectly follow the will and directives of the Father, all the way to the tree of the Cross.

The first Eve listened to the serpent and allowed his words to taint and twist her soul, leading to the Fall and the darkening of the world; the new Eve received the words of God with faith and so was impregnated with the Word Incarnate, for the life and salvation of the world.

The two pregnant cousins, Mary and Elizabeth, together foreshadowed the Body of Christ, the Church, which would one day be born from the side of the crucified Lord and revealed to the world on Pentecost (see CCC 766, 1076). Mary was blessed by the Father, impregnated by the power of the Holy Spirit, and filled with the Son. Before her Son was born, she brought him to her closest friend, to share moments of joy and wonder.

Today, the Virgin brings her Son to each of us; she brings joy and gladness into the silent womb of our deepest longings. On the cusp of Christmas, we can ask, like Elizabeth, “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

(This “Opening the Word” column originally appeared in the December 23, 2012, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)