Mary went with haste and joy into the hill country of Judah to tell Elizabeth that she will be the mother of the Messiah
Fr. Steven Scherrer, MM, Th.D.
Homily of Monday, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12, 2022
Zechariah 2:14-17 (2:10-13 RSV), Judith 13, Luke 1:39-47

Scripture quotations are taken from the Revised Standard Version unless otherwise noted

“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.’ And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior’” (Luke 1:39-47).

Mary has just been told by the angel Gabriel that she will be the mother of the Son of God who will inherit the throne of his father David and “reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:33). Immediately upon hearing this, “Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a city of Judah” (Luke 1:39) to visit her cousin Elizabeth to see whether the message of the angel was true that Elizabeth in her old age and sterility had conceived a child. If she had, this would be a confirmation of the sign that the angel gave Mary, namely that “Your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren” (Luke 1:36).

If Mary finds that Elizabeth is with child and already in her six month of pregnancy, then she will know the truth of the message of the angel that she herself would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit a son who would be the Son of God and the Son of David, who would inherit his throne and rule over an everlasting kingdom.

Mary immediately believed the word of the angel that she would conceive, but she had no physical evidence that this was true. But the angel did give her a visible sign that would confirm the truth of his message until the time came when she herself would notice in her body that she was indeed with child. This sign was the fact that Elizabeth, who was sterile and elderly, had also conceived a child.

So Mary went with great joy to see whether Elizabeth was pregnant and to announce to her that she herself will be the mother of the long-awaited Messiah, and that he was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit without human seed.

With whom could Mary share such a joyful message? She feared even to share it with Joseph, feeling that he would surely not believe her. But her pious cousin Elizabeth was the one person that she felt would believe her, especially if Elizabeth, who was considered sterile, also had conceived a child in her old age. If Mary could go and tell Elizabeth that the angel told her that Elizabeth had conceived a child and that this is why she came to talk with her, Elizabeth would be readier to believe that the angel also told Mary something else that was true, namely that Mary herself had conceived the Messiah who would be the Son of God and the heir to the throne of David. Mary made use of this sign that God had given her about Elizabeth’s pregnancy to confirm the message that she herself would conceive the Son of God and Savior of the world.

To Mary’s amazement surely, when she arrived at Elizabeth’s house, she discovered that Elizabeth already knew everything that had happened to her, for Elizabeth upon hearing the greeting of Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit, and the babe in her womb leaped for joy. And Elizabeth immediately said to Mary, without Mary having to explain anything to her, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:42-43).

Elizabeth praises Mary for the fruit of her womb, when she had just conceived and there was as yet no visible sign of it. How did she know that Mary had conceived and was with child? And why did she greet her young cousin Mary as “the mother of my Lord” (Luke 1:43)? In effect Elizabeth greets Mary as the mother of the Messiah, for the fruit of Mary’s womb is Elizabeth’s Lord. All this happened before Mary had explained anything to Elizabeth. It was because “Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:41). This enabled her to know that Mary had been chosen to be the mother of the Messiah and is now with child with him who is Elizabeth’s and Mary’s Lord.

Then Elizabeth praises Mary for believing the message of the angel without any visible or physical evidence, saying, “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Luke 1:45).

Then Mary bursts out in joy, praise, and thanksgiving, for she sees that she doesn’t have to explain anything to Elizabeth, for Elizabeth already knows by divine revelation what had happened to her. Perhaps Mary was worried as she traveled the seventy miles from Nazareth to Hebron, where Elizabeth probably lived, wondering whether she would believe her and whether she could really share with Elizabeth this great blessing that she was chosen to be the mother of the Messiah, the Son of God.

But now she sees that Elizabeth already knows everything by a special revelation of the Holy Spirit and believes all that the angel told Mary. So Mary can now open up her heart to Elizabeth and share with her her joy that she has been chosen to be the mother of the longed-for Messiah. And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47).

We see here the importance of Christian fellowship, of sharing our faith with others. When we do so, our joy increases, and our faith is strengthened. This is something we can learn from Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth. We too need fellowship with others, with whom we can share our faith, for as we share our faith, it increases and gives joy to others as well as to our self.

This fellowship becomes a mutual sharing and increases our joyful appreciation of the great gift that the Lord has given us of salvation in Christ. Such fellowship cheers us up and gives us courage and strength. Someone once said, “Happiness communicated, doubles itself. Grief grows greater by concealing – joy grows greater by expression” (JC Ryle, 1816-1900).