Part of a series of four Advent reflections centred on Mary and her song in Luke 1:46-55.
“My soul magnifies the Holy One,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.”
The third week of Advent is associated with John the Baptist, but as our focus is on Mary, this week we’ll spend time with Elizabeth, a relative of Mary and the mother of John.
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.
(Luke 1.39-45)
Our word “advent” comes from the Latin adventus meaning “arrival.” The word was used in ancient times to refer to the grand celebratory arrival of an important person into a city. Think perhaps of the opening ceremony of the Olympics which prepares the way for the athletes to enter the stadium. Although John the Baptist is often called the forerunner of Jesus, a number of people in the Biblical story prepare the way for Jesus’ arrival, including Elizabeth with her joyful blessing of Mary. Elizabeth helps to “prepare the way of the Holy One, making her paths straight.”
The Advent season is an opportunity for us prepare the way for Jesus’ arrival, both spiritually in our hearts and materially in our creation of loving community. This preparation involves removing obstacles from the path. The Quakers speak of getting rid of “cumber,” those things that way us down, that clutter our lives, that prevent us from sensing the world clearly. This preparation also involves joyful celebration. Our joy is vital for the welcoming of God into the world. We were created for joy after all. How are you clearing the way for joy this season?
God of the Elizabeth, John and Mary,
Thank you for those who clear the path for your arrival.
Thank you for your joy in us, for our joy in you, for our joy in each other.
May we clear the cumber from our lives
and celebrate your presence in our hearts and in the world.
Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash
Jolly Quaker 
I think I’m correct that Elizabeth is the mother of John the Baptist in the gospel story. So there’s another link between the cousins – the shared anguish on Good Friday of losing both their sons.
Maybe it is a bit morbid to contemplate for the Christmas period (although there is a lot of darkness in that story too, of course) but I think the gospels would want us to read that both Jesus and John were separated from an early age fron other children and thrust towards the road that led to death and it seems that both Mary and Elizabeth had some knowledge of it.
Thanks Joe. Yes, Elizabeth and Mary share in the tragedy of their children being executed by the powers that be.