A Little Project: Jesse Tree Week 4 Day 3

Ornament: Mother & Child

After the angel visits Mary and she becomes pregnant, she decides to travel to visit her cousin whom the angel said is also pregnant, even in her old age. When Elizabeth hears Mary's voice, her own child jumps inside her and Elizabeth knows immediately who it is that Mary carries inside her womb.

Mary travels to a town to visit her elderly cousin Elizabeth. Because Elizabeth is older and she is already six months pregnant, Mary knows that it will be very difficult for her to carry a child around inside her body and still accomplish simple things like cooking, cleaning and walking to get water from the well. Babies are heavy to carry! So Mary decides to help her out with these things, and visits her until her son is born. 

When Mary enters the house, she says hello to Elizabeth - and at the sound of Mary's voice, the baby John inside of Elizabeth leaps up! Babies move a lot, but this time it is very differnt, and very significant - Elizabeth feels a jump, as if the baby inside her is eager to hear the words that his cousin Mary has to say, no matter what they are. 

The jump is so significant that Elizabeth knows without Mary having told her not only that Mary is also carrying a child, but Who that Child is. 

Elizabeth tells Mary this - "Most 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.”

The story says that Elizabeth was so filled with God's Holy Spirit that she said this all in a loud voice - she was so excited by what was happening inside Mary! Even though she herself has a child in old age, which is almost impossible to do, she admires Mary more for her belief in Who she would be carrying. 

Then Mary responds to Elizabeth - not with her own praise, but with praise for the Lord.

And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age
to those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm,
dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy,
according to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

Connection & Reflection: Today we hang the image of a mother and child on our Jesse Tree. This story tells us so much about the love of God, but we especially see how close a mother and child can be. Their love is so strong and so close because the mother holds the child inside her and helps it grow with her own blood and body. Elizabeth shows us this when she is the one who hears Mary's voice, but it is her son John who responds by leaping! We also can realize how close Mary and her son Jesus are as well because they share the same flesh, the same genes, the same DNA. Jesus can hear her heartbeat from the inside of her chest! 

Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving us your Son in the same way that each one of us is born - through growing inside a mother who nurtures and carries us with her own body. Help us to rely on Mary the way that you do, with an intense love and affection - trusting her to carry you, feed you, and give you warmth. Also let us have the self-less-ness that Mary did to travel and serve her cousin, but also to praise you when we are blessed. 

Conclude with your favorite family prayer, or an Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be.