ST. ELIZABETH

Luke 1:13-14
Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth…
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In a patriarchal honor-and-shame culture, the ultimate blessing for a woman was to have a son, and the ultimate disgrace was not having one. This is why in Luke, Elizabeth stresses that God has now taken away her disgrace among the people. In those days, people assumed that the woman was sterile and at fault, perhaps through some sin in her life. They never really considered the possibility that the man might be sterile.

Elizabeth, not her son John, is portrayed as the first prophetic figure of the new era, the first to announce the blessing and the blessedness of Mary. When Mary visited her, Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and in a loud voice speaks her beatitude on Mary and on her child, Jesus. Her words are true and from God. Indeed, she even is the first in the Gospel to identify Mary's son as Lord, for she calls Mary “the mother of my Lord”.

In the story of Elizabeth and Mary, even women in a very patriarchal culture become vehicles of grace, conveyors of the truth, and bearers of the two most crucial figures who announce and bring in the new era of salvation. At the heart of it all were women who said yes to God despite all odds. In any era, that is no small miracle.

Do you love? Do you obey? Friends, we do not need an angel coming to us in a dream to challenge us to follow God. Instead, we have God’s greatest messenger, His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ to follow, to serve, to depend upon, and to love.

Let us pray +

Almighty Father, let me enjoy the miracle of waking, when it comes to me; and the miracle of being aware that I am alive—a breathing, walking, thinking proof of Your love and mercy. It is a miracle that You made us, Lord. It is a greater miracle that You tolerate us. We thank you, Lord, with a full heart, for everything. Give us the gift of appreciating You, and all You do.

Amen +

My mouth shall be filled with Your praise, and I will sing Your glory!