Luke 1:39-47
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 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. 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."
And Mary said:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my soul rejoices in God, my savior."
["My soul magnifies the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God, my savior."]
The Gospel of the Lord.
"The Lord is with thee" meaning the God of her fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, of Joseph, of David is with her. She must respond to Gabriel, the able-bodied one, the hero of God, the angel who stands before God. She is alone in her response, And her only support is the narrow will of God, and her readiness to believe, and her readiness to obey.
December 12 is the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Mary appeared to Juan Diego, Cuauhtlatoattzin [quat-la-toe-at-zin], "Speaking Eagle", on Tepacac Hill near Mexico City, this day in 1531.
Her appearance inscribed on Juan Diego's tilma, made of yucca plant leaves and still fresh and bright today, almost 500 years later, is my "My Lord and My God" moment. From John 20:24-29, where Jesus, after the Resurrection, appeared a second time to the apostles and a first time to St. Thomas. "Thomas, put your fingers into the marks of the nails and your hand into my side and do not be disbelieving, but be believing." And Thomas replied, "My Lord and My God".
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