In today's Gospel, Luke connects the birth of John the Baptist to the birth of Jesus. We use both Elizabeth and Mary as models of humility and how we should be open to God's plan for our lives.
Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts and our minds. Fill us with your peace, love, and understanding. Help us to hear God's message today and recognize His voice in our daily activities. Amen
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.”
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aURyfCE03JE (Credit to Catholic Kids Media)
Ask: What did Elizabeth call Mary? (blessed) Why do you think that Elizabeth called Mary blessed? (because she was to be the mother of Jesus; because Mary trusted God and said yes when God asked her to be the mother of his Son, Jesus) Say: There is another word that we use to call someone blessed; that word is happy.
Ask: Are there people in your life who trust God? Who are they? How do you know that they trust God? (Accept all reasonable answers.) We can be happy like Mary if we trust that God is always taking care of us.
Pray together that Mary will help us trust in God's promises as she did. Pray the Hail Mary.
Father in heaven, for the sake of bringing others closer to you, we give you today, all that we think and do and say, and we join it with all that was done by Jesus Christ, your Son. Amen
