December 23, 2012: Fourth Sunday of Advent

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:39-45)

What a lovely story about two holy women, both of them pregnant, one of them with Jesus! And when Elizabeth heard Mary’s hello, her yet-to-be-born son, John, leaped in her womb with great joy because Jesus was so present. So even before they were born, they were present to each other.

Action:

Think of the way John was greeting his cousin, Jesus, and then think about ways you can also greet Jesus during the many times in your day that He is present to you–when you wake up, when you say goodbye to your mother as you leave for school, when you enjoy your friends in the playground at recess, when you kiss your mother and father before you go to bed at night. Jesus is present in everything you do. Think of the ways you can remind yourself of that every day.