Listen to a simple service of prayer and reflection centred on Luke 1.39-45 for 21 December
O Oriens
O Morning Star,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death.
Reflection on Luke 1.39-45
Don’t you feel relieved when you meet someone who understands what you are going through in life? So many of the things that happen to us are unique. They are not unique because they have never happened to anyone else, but because of the way they make us feel and the way they affect our view on life. So often we are irritated when we are seeking support from others and they respond with phrases like: I know exactly what you mean because I had the same experience! Our irritation may seem unreasonable, but is it really? Yes, someone else may have the same experience as us, but they do not share our feelings, our disappointments, our hurts and our hopes.
In today’s reading we hear of a meeting of the only two women who could possibly have an inkling as to what the other might be going through. Both Elizabeth and Mary are pregnant. Their pregnancies have come about through the intervention of God himself. That is, of course, where the similarities begin and end: Elizabeth is elderly, Mary is young; Elizabeth is married, Mary is not. So, whilst there is much they can share, that sharing is rooted in one undeniable fact that the two pregnancies have in common … they have been brought about by the will of God.
Both Elizabeth and Mary had accepted the situations in which they found themselves. They were travelling through their pregnancies in their own ways. Mary, the younger mother-to-be, journeyed to see her elderly relative and there the truth of all that had been foretold was confirmed. There were more truths to be revealed but, in their encounter, the baby that Mary is carrying is recognized and acknowledged as Elizabeth says: And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?
Elizabeth and Mary were the only ones who could understand the journey each was undertaking, despite the obvious differences. Therein lies the challenge for us today. Everyone who professes a faith in Christ is on a unique journey through this world. We are each called to support one another, and to lead others into the faith. As we fulfil this common mission we are called to do so with a level of acceptance and love that has been modelled for us by Jesus himself. Let us pray that, even when we believe ourselves to be inadequate, we might step out in faith knowing that our sharing of the love and light of Christ is the first step on the journey of faith that is ours alone.