This Week

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." ...And Mary remained with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

----Luke 1:39-45, 56

Luke’s account of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth immediately follows Gabriel’s departure from Mary. Having boldly assented to bear the Christ, Mary finds herself suddenly alone. Young and unwed, Mary’s awe at Gabriel’s invitation probably gives wat to fear, dismay, and a sense of isolation. Who will believe her? Who will listen to her? Who will comfort her? Elizabeth. We do not know whether Mary decides to visit Elizabeth because they have been close kinswomen and friends for a long time or because Mary simply has no one else to whom she can turn...Surely Elizabeth’s welcome assures Mary that she has done well to turn to her kinswoman. Blessed by Elizabeth for her faithfulness, Mary breaks forth into a song full of praise for the liberation that God has brought. We know this song as the Magnificat.

----Jan L. Richardson, Sacred Journeys: A Woman’s Book of Daily Prayer

To be pregnant is one thing. To be pregnant with the Christ is something altogether different. How could this happen? This was not the way Mary had planned her life. "How do you defend a blessing you cannot explain?" she asked herself. "How do you live with a blessing that creates more problems than it solves?" Besides, who would believe her? Joseph? Absolutely not. The townswomen? Hardly Elizabeth, her relative? Perhaps...At least Elizabeth was married. Still, Mary needed someone to talk with. Someone who knew what it meant to grapple with God’s intentions. Someone. A woman, pregnant like herself. Mary’s mind kept going back to the old woman Elizabeth. Suppose her kinswoman did not believe her? It was a chance Mary had to take. She needed to talk with another woman.

----Renita J. Weems, Just a Sister Away

"Family responsibilities never end. Many of us will find ourselves caring for parents through the slow decline of Alzheimer's, cancer, or stroke. Many others will be involved with difficult teens or family depression, or tending to marital conflicts or the divorces of our siblings, our children, ourselves. The sacrifices of a family are as demanding as those of any monastery and offer exactly the same training in renunciation, patience, steadiness and generosity."

----The Sun "After Enlightenment, The Laundry"

Because of God’s presence in the practice, when we offer hospitality our relationship with God is deepened. Hospitality helps us to grow because God is already working in the lives of the people who come and in the lives of those who welcome them...Those who offer hospitality find that the practice itself is nourishing. We discover that a life of hospitality brings us life. Fed by the practice through the guest who come and through the gifts they bring, in a mysterious way, we are also nourished by God’s grace and love which infuse hospitality. ...In the midst of a life-giving practice, we too might catch glimpses of Jesus who asks for our welcome and welcomes us home.

 ----Christine D. Pohl, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition

• What did Mary receive from Elizabeth?
• How was Elizabeth able to give Mary what she needed?
• What did Elizabeth receive from Mary?
• Who do you go to when you need support? What do you receive there?
• How do you help people in their difficult times? What do you need to be a help to them?
• How do we welcome Christ when we receive and care for someone?