Be with us Mary....

    

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/62135669832952670/                                http://hicatholicmom.blogspot.in/2011/06/birth-of-st-john-baptist.html

St. Luke gives a very vivid picture of the birth of St. John the Baptist in Luke chapter 1. What I find interesting here is the life of his mother Elizabeth before and after the visitation of Mary in their summer house in Ein Karem.
Verse 24 says :

After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.

 Why did Elizabeth remain in seclusion , I wonder. Was she afraid to meet her neighbours? Was she so overwhelmed by the great gift of God growing in her womb that she could not or would not want to meet anyone? Or was it just that she wanted to reflect on the mercies of God and was remaining in seclusion?
Well, once Mary comes into the scene, there is a great change happening in Elizabth. First of all, on hearing the greeting of Mary, both the child in the womb and Elizabeth herself are filled with the Holy Spirit.

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,  where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.  When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 

What a change is this ! The woman who was silent and in seclusion for the past 5 -6 months, suddenly speaks out so loudly!!Then, after having Mary with her for three months, the make over that has come upon Elizabeth is amazing. Then when the baby was born, we find her sharing her joy with the neigbours.

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.  Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah,  but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.  He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.  All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

http://readingacts.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/luke-168-god-will-visit-his-people/
Let us pray to Mary to visit our home too and to remain with us so that we too shall enjoy the fellowship of God's people.