Welcoming the Holy
Here we invite you to take time for yourself in personal prayer. The following spiritual reflection offers words and images which we hope will evoke for you an experience of God.
By: Sister Joan Sobala
“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb.” Luke 1:40
Opening Prayer
God of Life, we see Mary and Elizabeth today, embracing one another, even as their sons in the womb stirred. As we contemplate this tender, human scene, may it move us to welcome in our hearts the gift of God that others bear. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Reflection
Mary could have used her pregnancy as a reason to stay home. Instead, she chose to travel some seventy miles to be with her cousin, Elizabeth. During their visit, they would each draw strength from one other. The sons that Elizabeth and Mary bore would change the world by their words and actions. But not yet. For the time being, Mary and Elizabeth would share holy time, woman-time with one another. They would talk of God and family, of wonder and love, of the risks and joy of childbirth. They would walk gently in the garden, prepare meals together, sew clothing for the newborns. This was their quiet time together. They drew strength for the future from one another. Mary and Elizabeth honored each other’s remarkable role in the world.
Can today hold some quiet time for ourselves and maybe others with us as we, too, prepare for the coming of our God? For us, too, it is risky to bear God in our world.
Today, let us paraphrase and sing with them “Blessed are we, who believe that the promise made us by our God will be fulfilled.”
Closing Prayer
Holy, wholly-tender God, we know Mary bore Your Son with love and generosity. When we bear him to others, may we be likewise openhearted. May Jesus in us stir hope, wonder and joy in others. May Christmas be for us a day of reverence for all our brothers and sisters on our fragile globe.
