A Reflection for the Sunday of the Fourth Week of Advent
“Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled” (Lk 1: 43-45).
Conversations between women in the Gospels always capture my attention, but today’s holds a special meaning for me. That’s because my sister and I used to play Mary and Elizabeth when I was a little girl. No, I am not making this up.
The game started because my bath towel was a light blue that always reminded me of the veil the Blessed Mother is usually depicted wearing. And thus, a tradition was born: I would put the blue towel on my head, and Nora would wear her white one. (As the older sister, I obviously always got to be Mary. Some family members would have called me “bossy”; I prefer “strong willed.”) We would dramatically render the lines we knew by heart.
Mary is the woman with the words and the story that capture all of Catholic imagination. But why?
While this has mostly become a funny family story, I reflect on it each time I hear this passage from Luke’s Gospel because of just how captivated I was by Mary at such a young age. If you are a young girl growing up in a Catholic family, school or church community, you take in messages about Mary as your role model from the time you can begin to understand what is going on. While most of the recurring characters in the Gospel stories are men, Mary is the woman with the words and the story that capture all of Catholic imagination.
But why? This is what I’m not sure I fully understood when I insisted on putting that blue towel on my head and emulating the Blessed Mother. I gravitated to her because she was a young girl, and because she became a central character in the salvation story I was learning at church and school. But beyond that, why is she such a worthy role model? Today’s Gospel gives the best answer.
It is in the final words of this passage that Elizabeth reveals the Marian quality we should all emulate: “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” All that baby-leaping, blessing-acclaiming, “How does this happen to me” excitement for one simple attribute: faith.
As Catholics, we share in Mary’s incredible trust in God in one important way: We believe that the angel’s promise to her came true and that it changed all of our lives.
The divine promises that Mary believed were many. Yes, she believed the angel’s message that she would become the mother of God, but Mary trusted the Lord on so much more. Her Magnificat prayer, a favorite of mine, reveals that Mary also believed with fervor that God would deliver the poor and the persecuted from the trials they were experiencing at the hands of unjust systems of power.
Well, it has been 2,000 years, and the poor and persecuted in this world are still too many to count. That is what makes Mary’s faith so difficult for most of us, myself included, to understand. But as Catholics, we share in her incredible trust in God in one important way: We believe that the angel’s promise to her came true and that it changed all of our lives. Maybe we can have faith that the rest of God’s promises will come true, too.
Get to know Molly Cahill, assistant editor
1. Favorite Christmas Hymn
“O Holy Night.” From the traditional choral version to the Mariah Carey rendition, this song is always my go-to.
2. Favorite Christmas Tradition
More of an Advent tradition, but my mom has always given my sister and me small gifts on each Sunday of Advent when we light our Advent wreath as a family. (Even now, we keep this up over FaceTime.) I love them because they usually correspond with a theme and have always been so personalized to each of us. The tradition has given me a particular love for the whole season of Advent, not just Christmas Day, and has also inspired the type of gift-giver I hope to be: one who focuses on finding the simple things that perfectly fit the people I love.
3. Favorite Christmas Recipe
Peanut butter blossom cookies! In my experience, Santa has always been very happy that we leave him these.
4. Favorite Article You Wrote This Year
After this year’s Met Gala, I wrote a piece about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s infamous “Tax the Rich” dress. The congresswoman actually ended up reading it and sharing it on Twitter! When I saw the notification, I was so shocked that I poured about four times too much salt into the pasta I was making for dinner. Oh well. Worth it!
5. Favorite Christmas Photo
I wish I had a photo of us in full Mary and Elizabeth attire, but here is me (in the red headband) with my sister and partner in crime, Nora, during Christmas season 2004.
