Advent 4 -

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When we are listening to God, we will feel the call to service.  To serve is to be like Christ, who came not to be served but to serve.  This is why Mary, as soon as her encounter with the angel is complete, sets her mind towards her relative Elizabeth, whom she had just heard about from Gabriel as well.  The angel told Mary that Elizabeth has conceived in her old age.  Perhaps Mary took this message as another invitation from God, an invitation to serve in another way, and she gets right to it.  She travels many days to be with her relative, and spends three months with her.  I think in our culture if we were to spend three hours serving someone we might find it hard to avoid panicking.

Mary was indeed "blessed among women" not because she carried Jesus within her.  It was because she was so responsive to God's grace and His will for her life that she was blessed, and thus she was invited to be the Mother of God.

I visited my family recently and I was very impressed by two of my younger siglings.  They were back for a few days at home and both work in restaurant business.  One was preparing dinner and stepped away from that to make me a quick sandwich because I was starving.  Another brought wine and got the table set for dinner that evening without anyone else helping.  All this happened so quickly and without thought that I was deeply impressed.  They noticed an opportunity for service and they did it before I could even begin to help.  They were using their skills to serve, and jumped right in.

When we are close to God, like Mary, we become like him.  This happens with friends, married couples, etc.  In many ways, not every way, they become like each other because of their closeness.  Well, since God is love, when we stay close to Him, we become more like Him.  We wish to be love, we wish to serve, we wish to give for those around us.  This is the lesson that Mary shows us today in spending three months with Elizabeth.  Truly she was blessed.  May we be so as well.