Readings: Thursday of the Third Week of Advent | USCCB 

The Visitation begins with motion. Compelled by charity, Mary travels in “haste” to the hill country. She does not hesitate to undertake the arduous journey to come to Elizabeth’s aid. Like Christ, Mary runs to the weakest and lowest, seeking to console her in her difficulty. Mary’s greatest consolation is, of course, in her very presence; a living Tabernacle, she comes bearing the Logos Himself. Recognizing the first motion of the Visitation as Christ’s coming to Elizabeth, I’d like to consider how Elizabeth receives Him and responds to His presence. 

The Lord’s coming elicits a tripartite response. First, Elizabeth and the infant John the Baptist, filled with the Holy Spirit, are overcome with an unmitigated joy. Their whole persons, their very being, cannot help but cry out in the presence of the Christ. The special grace of the recognition of Christ’s presence is followed by an intelligible response, Elizabeth’s exclamation “Most blessed are you among women, / and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” That which has been made known by grace is now affirmed in faith. John will later echo Elizabeth, announcing “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Elizabeth’s affirmation of faith is followed by her expression of gratitude and praise, a gratitude not only in response to the joyful truth of Christ’s coming to the world, but a deeply personal gratitude for His coming to her: “And how does this happen to me, / that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” In an Incarnational motion, Elizabeth receives salvific truth, a gift of gratuitous grace, affirms it in her own profession of faith, and lifts it up to Him in joyful praise. Like Mary, in her joyful reception of Christ, Elizabeth too becomes one of the blessed who believes “what the Lord has spoken to her.” 

As we await the coming of our Lord this Advent, contemplate Elizabeth’s response to Christ’s presence. How do we prepare to receive our Lord? And when He comes to us, what is our response? Are we waiting for Him with the patience that Hope in His coming enables? Or will we be distracted when the knock on the door comes? 

Megan Scott, CSMA Student 

The Campus Ministry Seasonal Reflections are offered during the liturgical seasons of Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter. We bring a variety of voices from Students, Faculty and Staff. The perspectives expressed in these reflections are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Campus Ministry.