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December 16, 2021Fourth Sunday of Advent - the Visitation
Readings: Mi 5:1-4a; Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19; Heb 10:5-10; Lk 1:39-45
“The pregnant pause.” We have all heard this term, and experienced it in conversations. It is the silence right before someone speaks, usually something of significance. Why do we call it pregnant? That moment of no words is filled with anticipation of the words about to come. A statement is about to be made that could challenge us, move us, and even change us.
When a woman is pregnant, this anticipation of challenge and change is felt with its full weight. Life will not be the same after the due date. Priorities will change, what takes up one’s time will change, and even one’s outlook on life can change with a birth. The pregnancy is a time of waiting, preparation, and anticipation. Luke’s Gospel today gives us an image of a pregnant moment in history, embodied by two pregnant women. Mary and Elizabeth are two women who are not supposed to be pregnant by society’s and biology’s rules respectively. Mary is not pregnant by her husband, and Elizabeth is elderly, beyond childbearing age.
Yet, against all odds and expectations, these two pregnant women standing before each other in a house in the countryside embody the anticipation of God’s reign on earth. This image is not foreign in the Bible. Sarah, the wife of Abraham, was barren, and it looked like Abraham’s family line would end with him. But God unexpectedly entered into his life with a promise: his ancestors would be as numerous as the stars and a light to the nations. And so Sarah gave birth, and from her lineage would be God’s chosen people. Hannah prayed and prayed for a child, and was mocked for her barrenness. But God heard her cry and she gave birth to a son. Her son, Samuel, would become a great prophet and would anoint Israel’s first king. God often chooses the least to do great things. Micah reminds us of God’s tendency to do this when he says that from Bethlehem, though too small to be a clan of Judah, will come a great ruler. Indeed, from there we have the king of kings in Jesus.
God has consistently chosen the overlooked, the mocked, the barren, and outcast to be the heralds of good news and the bearers of life and light for the world. No one is to be forgotten in God’s Kingdom. As the prophet Micah tells us today:
“his greatness
shall reach to the ends of the earth;
he shall be peace.”
- Who is overlooked in my family, society, and world? How am I, as a temple of God’s Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19) invited to reach out to them?
- As Christmas draws very near, can I create time to sit in “pregnant pause,” in silent time, just God and I? Share with God what you hope for in the birth of His Son.
- Are there any pregnant pauses in your life right now? Any uncertainty that needs God’s presence to give hope? Any areas that lack a clear sense of direction? Ask God to bless you amidst these uncertainties, and to make them pregnant with hope.
- For personal reflection: Have I ever felt overlooked or forgotten? Share this pain with God, who never overlooks you. Imagine God looking at you, seeing you. Now speak to Him.
