Daily Gospel Reflection
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December 19, 2021
Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and 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.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”
Reflection
When I first heard today’s gospel reading as a child, I remember being amazed that the baby in the womb of Elizabeth was cognizant of what was going on around him. What wonder and joy! The story is so important that we count it as the second Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, The Visitation.
Mary hurried to Judah to see her relative Elizabeth. It was the Archangel Gabriel that informed Mary with the news that not only would she be bearing the Messiah, but also that her relative Elizabeth was with child. What wonder and joy!
Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah were indeed the recipients of God’s love. Unable to have children for decades, the couple conceived a baby at a point in their lives when it was considered impossible. What wonder and joy! Of course, we know this child became John the Baptist, who proclaimed the Good News of the coming Messiah.
When Mary arrives at the home of Elizabeth—the child in Elizabeth’s womb leaps with excitement. The baby John recognizes the presence of the Messiah. Elizabeth feels this connection as well and knows what is happening to Mary. She proclaims the words we know so well from the Hail Mary: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”
What wonder and joy indeed!
Prayer
Lord, the infant in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy when you drew near in the womb of your mother Mary. “Blessed are you,” Elizabeth said to Mary, “and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Help us to experience the same kind of joy, Lord, as we welcome you each day into our lives. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Fausta lived in the third century near what is now Serbia. She was a model mother because she raised her daughter to be a saint: St. Anastasia of Sirmium, whose feast day falls on Christmas, Dec. 25.
Both of these saints are subjects of special veneration: St. Fausta is one of the 140 saints depicted in sculpture in the colonnade surrounding St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican (shown here); St. Anastasia is one of seven women mentioned in the Eucharistic prayer in the Mass.
The relics of St. Fausta and of her daughter, St. Anastasius, rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Fausta, the mother who is honored for raising her daughter to become a saint, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Fausta is available for use in the public domain under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public domain Dedication. Last accessed November 21, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
