Today, the Church gives us an option to observe the Memorial of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, a fitting observance as we get ready to dwell in the Season of Advent .
On this day, we celebrate the presentation of the Blessed Virgin as a child by her parents in the Temple in Jerusalem. Before Mary’s birth, her parents received a heavenly message that they would bear a child. In thanksgiving for the God’s gift of Mary’s birth, they brought her to the Temple to consecrate their only daughter to The Lord.
Today’s Psalm is what I’d like to concentrate this reflection on … the words taken from Luke (and not a Psalm). Words that we know today as the Magnificat.
In it, Mary’s journey to Elizabeth, her cousin, is described. And when you read it carefully, you can’t help but notice that Elizabeth is immediately in awe of seeing her younger cousin so happily with child.
I often think of this when I consider how expecting mothers appear to be … appear to me.
Not sure how old I was, but from a very young age I noticed something unusual about women who were pregnant – something beyond a tummy that was suddenly growing larger with a child inside.
I noticed it in their eyes and their smiles. Even the color of their skin.
It was a glow.
Not like a tan when you spend a week at the beach. That is more of an external change of color.
No, this was more like an internal glow. As if something inside was illuminating her face.
Her eyes were brighter, her cheeks more flush with color, her lips more beautiful with every smile.
I’m sure I probably embarrassed my mom when I told these new mommies that they sure looked pretty … more pretty than before. (I was such a flirt).
But I still see it and still believe it.
And yes, I still probably embarrass expecting mothers (those I know and those I don’t) when I tell them that they are absolutely glowing and they look beautiful. (Yup … still a big flirt).
Now, medical officials have tried to explain this “pregnancy glow” as having something to do with increased hormones boosting the oil in the skin. Or they think it might have something to do with the increased blood flow created by the body.
Sorry, I think this glow is more spiritual, originating from the child within. A child – this child, that child … ANY child – conceived by a holy trinity of God, the mother and father.
But especially the mother, who plays such a key part of the miracle of birth.
Today’s Psalm is taken from the story of Mary, who shortly after learning of her miraculous birth to come, went visiting her cousin Elizabeth, who was six months ahead of her in her own miraculous pregnancy, in which she would bear John the Baptist.
Prior to the trip, the Angel Gabriel explained to Mary what she was about to experience …
“And the angel said to her in reply, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.’”
God worked a miracle within Mary, who chose to cooperate with Him and brought forth the child, Jesus. That same miracle is still at work today. Every child conceived in the womb is a miraculous work of God.
Mary had the glow because the power of that Holy Spirit was bubbling up from within. She would later tell Elizabeth that “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
All mothers have that same glow because that same Holy Spirit is within them – a spirit that breathed life into the child. What a tremendous gift God has given us … a chance to be, well, like Him.
Even if the timing is not perfect nor the circumstances ideal. By opening ourselves to the miraculous workings of God – especially in the creation of a new soul – we open ourselves to the power of the Holy Spirit, which can change us both spiritually and physically.
That glow is of God.
And it is truly beautiful.
