Flip It

Jesus has only be ascended for six days, we have not even left the season of Easter, and already our attention shifts from the Paschal Season of the Resurrection to the waiting and watching of the Nativity cycle. I almost feel like the Church resides as some great sea being tugged at by two different moons: Incarnation one moment, Resurrection the next, birth one moment, death/rebirth the next. So, even on this day at the tail end of the Easter season, we look to the pregnancy of Mary and the visitation she made to her cousin Elizabeth; today we celebrate the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Like any well-worn—or better said well-heard—story we may not notice the strange particularities. Rather, we comfortably float over the odd details focusing instead on the overarching beauty of pregnant cousins visiting and Mary singing a song of God’s Kingdom not unlike Hannah’s in 1 Samuel. Today though, the relationship between these cousins has captivated me. Their unfolding connection—both obvious in the text and hidden between the lines—points to the striking truth that the Blessed Virgin Mary carried in her womb the One whom God sent to save the Universe by flipping it on its head.

Before we even get to this story, let us back up a chapter or two in Luke’s telling of the Good News. Previously in the story an angel visited Elizabeth’s husband Zechariah, he doubted the messenger, and the angel struck him dumb until the birth of their child. Elizabeth’s pregnancy links so intimately with Mary’s own conception that Luke uses the former’s gestation timeline as a marker for when Gabriel came to tell Mary the surprisingly good news. “In the sixth month” is a reference to Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Luke thus intimately intertwines the two holy women and their holy offspring, but this only begins to point out their association.

Next, within the astonishing announcement from Gabriel when Mary felt perplexed by the angel’s words what seemingly convinced her to say, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord: let it be with me according to your word,” had everything to do with Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Elizabeth and Zechariah had not been able to conceive previously, but through God’s transforming power they did. Mary found out of this news through a divine messenger, and seemingly as soon as Gabriel left, she quickly departed too, as she went to deepen her connection with Elizabeth.

We find ourselves now at the beginning of today’s Gospel lesson, when Mary set out to visit Elizabeth. The two women lived about seventy miles away from one another, and having earlier this year traveled with a pregnant woman in her first trimester Mary’s voyage stands out as extremely difficult. Moreover, in those days unmarried women did not travel alone in public, but seemingly the strong-willed Mary did! Without too much effort we can easily observe God flipping the male-dominated culture on its head with Mary, the bearer of the Mighty One traveling alone for several days—unaccompanied by a male family member. Go Mary! Go God! Once Mary reached her destination, the cousins’ connection provided another opportunity for God’s power to reroute worldly authority.

Elizabeth’s and Mary’s interaction exemplifies how God’s Kingdom works. Like I stated at the beginning this story sounds so familiar that we may overlook some critical details, including how the cousins say hello to one another. From the perspective of the world Elizabeth holds all the power. Elizabeth was the wife of a priest, an elder relative of Mary, and a woman six-months pregnant, which beats a lowly, unwed, teenage woman with child any day of the week; however, that does not match the story. Although Mary very kindly greets her elder cousin, a sign of admiration, Elizabeth’s response points to her mutual respect of Mary.

When Mary greeted Elizabeth the unborn baby John the Baptist leapt in his mother’s womb and the Holy Spirit filled the elder cousin. Elizabeth thus cried out, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb” signifying Mary’s stature. Elizabeth could not even believe that Mary had come to see her cousin, “And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?” What great respect these two women showed to one another. The greetings conclude with Elizabeth blessing Mary as she recalls the fulfillment of what Gabriel spoke to her.

We may wonder, “What might we learn or celebrate from this interaction?”

Mary and Elizabeth do not allow differences in power, age, or distance to dictate the respect that they bestow upon one another. In our baptismal vows we promise to respect the dignity of every other human being. The Kingdom of God does not run on the same economy as the world, nor does it play by the same rules of power differential in which things like light skin color, maleness, high education level, and affluence will allow one to dominate someone the world deems as lesser. As Mary points out in the song we call the Magnificat, “[God] has scattered the proud,” “brought down the powerful,” and “sent the rich away empty,” while “[God has] lifted up the lowly,” “filled the hungry with good things,” and “helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy.” Mary and Elizabeth get this notion for they mutually share love, respect, and hospitality with one another.

How will you like these courageous bearers of God’s love flip the power-hungry world on its head? How will you work with God to build the love-hungry reign that these women and Jesus initiated? How will you be like Mary and Elizabeth?

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