“Filled with the Spirit” by Beth DeCristofaro
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| "Windsock Visitation" by Brother Mickey McGrath, OSFS |
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, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. (Luke 1:41-42)
Piety
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever." (Luke 1:46-55)
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever." (Luke 1:46-55)
Study
This beautiful Gospel from Luke is proclaimed between very different stories. In this week’s Gospels, we have been traveling with Jesus on the way to Jerusalem as he instructs the disciples on his upcoming passion. And the temple leaders are plotting to kill him. Suddenly we turn to the beginning of Jesus’ story. We witness daily, commonplace life – pregnant cousins greeting each other – infused with the mystery: the infant leaped in her womb. It’s the same story which Jesus had been trying to translate for the disciples in the other readings: God is here! God is with you!
Although Jesus has yet to send the Paraclete, the Spirit is at Elizabeth’s home (of course!) in the joyous connection between the women, in the recognition between the unborn and was at work already in Nazareth granting Joseph the courage to marry Mary in spite of social customs. Brother Mickey McGrath’s “Windsock Annunciation” shows us the dynamic breath of the Spirit with the billowing red windsock. Mystery blowing through the everyday.
Grace blows through, coming ever towards us, propelling us to holiness and encircling us in holiness. Even before Jesus’ birth, God’s ultimate triumph of love and redemption had succeeded. Jesus’ story is through the Cross which he accepted and asks that we accept. A birth leads to a death, leads to everlasting life which belongs to us by grace and gracious invitation. A mystery within the every day, bigger and more universal than the universe itself.
Action
St John Chrysostom said the cross was the will of the Father, the glory of the Son and the joy of the Holy Spirit. Read slowly the words of the Magnificat. What is cross for you? Where do you find the joy of Spirit blowing through despite or perhaps because of the cross you bear? Ask for the Spirit to fill you, as did Elizabeth and Mary, to bear your cross and find God more clearly.
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