TWO PROPHETIC WOMEN
by Deacon Joseph Scaccia
Holy Cross Church, Mesa, Arizona
Throughout the history of our church there has been a tendency to idealize the Virgin Mary and raise her on such a pedestal that we may lose the sense of her real humanity. Mary was fully human, just as Jesus was fully human. She experienced physical pain and emotional and spiritual suffering like all of us. Yet, we still have people creating stories like Mary did not experience the pain of childbirth with Jesus. There is no validity to such statements. The current very spiritually rewarding film called “The Nativity Story,” rightfully depicts Mary as being fearful about her pregnancy, worrying if she and Joseph would find a place in Bethlehem to deliver Jesus and crying in pain and anguish as the child was delivered.
So it was that, after the Annunciation by the Angel Gabriel, Mary felt the very natural urge to visit her relative, Elizabeth even though it was a very long and risky journey of about 100 miles. Here was a teenager having her first birth and complicated by the mysterious intervention of the Angel and God’s. Like any first-time mother, Mary wanted to have the comfort and advice of an older woman who could provide support in her time of need. Mary was also a kind, generous and faithful Jewish woman who instinctively felt she could help Elizabeth with her pregnancy by doing work around the household and offering her own support. Who knows but Mary had heard through the family grapevine that Elizabeth herself had conceived in a special, mysterious way, again through the Angel Gabriel appearing to Elizabeth’s husband, Zecahriah. Perhaps we can even think of Elizabeth as helping to prepare the way of Mary’s birth just as her son, John the Baptist, would prepare the way for Jesus.
What is important in all of this is that two spiritually faithful and devoted Jewish women meet and comfort each other during the most momentous time in human history. We may note that the meeting of these two prophetic women in one of the few times in the Bible when two women meet without men involved to interpret and reveal God’s Word to the world. The gospel writer, Luke brings together these two very different mothers-to-be so that the world may know that they are authentically praising God for his miraculous interventions in human history. This means that Mary and Elizabeth are truly prophets who announce the redemption of the world through the grace and mercy of God. And it is profoundly significant that two women should called by God to witness to this transforming and saving birth event. Perhaps it is the patience and endurance of women who must go through a long, arduous pregnancy, which makes them so suitable to be called on by God to show that God does not forget his people; and fulfills his promises to save us in his own time.
Even more than praise of God, however, is the fact that the Holy Spirit is now presented to the world in the baby Jesus. Once Jesus is conceived in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit can now become active in others. Mary is the first to receive this outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Next, John the Baptist receives the Holy Spirit as he leapt for joy in Elizabeth’s womb. Then Elizabeth is described as being full of the Spirit and recognizes the gift of Jesus in Mary. Ultimately, all of this is a foreshadowing of the future glorification of Jesus after the Resurrection when the Holy Spirit is released to all humanity as we read in the Acts of the Apostles (2:1-4).
The important lesson for us is that we, as baptized and confirmed Catholic Christians have also received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Just as Mary and Elizabeth filled by the Holy Spirit, so are we filled 2000 years soon after. Just as Mary and Elizabeth worked out their fears and concerns about their extraordinary childbirths through the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, we too can rely on the Holy Spirit to help us through the inevitable sufferings and sins of our lives today.
Mary was a unique human being, the God-bearer; and she is the premier saint in our communion of saints. We do well to pray to the Virgin Mary, this Saint of all saints. But, let us not create fantastic stories about Mary. Let us see Mary as truly our sister, the model disciple for us all. Mary, a humble, poor peasant girl, and Elizabeth, an elderly woman despairing of ever having a child, have shown us that God cares for all of us. This means we should always think of ourselves as loved by God. Whether we are poor, middle class or rich, young, middle-aged, or old, God has something in mind for all of us. All we need is patience, openness to the will of God and the simple faith to answer “YES” to whatever God calls us.
We can do this because two prophetic women met and witnessed to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the Son of God. This proves that we are not alone. All along the way, we must constantly remind ourselves to increase our openness and awareness of the Holy Spirit living within us. The Holy Spirit has been poured out on us. The Holy Spirit lives within us. As a result, we must constantly remind ourselves to increase our openness to the Holy Spirit and be willing to receive the gifts of this Spirit of God. What better gifts to receive than the Spirit’s gifts of healing, comfort, compassion, consolation, strength, faith, courage, perseverance, prophecy, wisdom, counseling, understanding, teaching, the ministries of charity, leadership and service, and, above all, the love, hope, peace and joy that comes from God the Father through his Spirit.
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