I heard on the TV or the radio the other day that more people are expected to travel during this Christmas season than they have in many years. The number quoted was in the millions. With the prediction of mild weather and low gas prices, people will be driving distances to be with family and friends. There’s even A Christmas carol Home for the Holidays, that reflects this reality….to be with those we love the most.
Travelling at this time of year really began many hundreds of years ago as we read in today’s Gospel. On this fourth and final weekend of the Advent Season, we hear how Mary, having been informed of her own miraculous pregnancy and that of her cousin Elizabeth, sets out into the hill country to make a visit and to be with her cousin. It was obviously important for both women to make this connection as they each were playing an important role in the history of salvation.
The interchange between them is very moving. Elizabeth describes the movement in her womb as the infant jumping for joy at the visitation; Elizabeth echoes the words of the angel to Mary and they share their anticipation and their expectation and I am sure their surprise also.
With Christmas but a few days away, we too are anticipating getting together and family gatherings. Elizabeth obviously reminds us today that every person we greet and spend time with is like Mary: each one of us has Christ living within us. That is what this season is about: Jesus choosing to make His dwelling place within and among us. Like Elizabeth, we also can be moved by that presence in one another.
Family gatherings are not perfect and we all know family issues. But perhaps if we can remember that Jesus lives within and comes to transform us, then the true deeper meaning of the Christmas Season can prevail. “Blessed are you who believe what the Lord has spoken will be fulfilled.”