Did you ever wonder what Mary looked like? Was she tall or short, delicate or tough? The statues of Mary in our churches tend to portray Mary in her heavenly form—glorious, holy, delicate, kind. What if we had a video clip of her as she walked the hills of Galilee? Would we be surprised?
Today is the feast of the Visitation, commemorating Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth. Let’s listen to what St. Luke tells us (Luke1:39-56).
“Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah.”
No doubt Mary was a young teenager. Maybe she travelled with a caravan, I don’t know. Or maybe she travelled alone. To travel the hill country “in haste” is demanding; Mary had to be in good shape, physically, to do this.
When we think about some of Mary’s heroics following this moment, we gather that she was a pretty “tough” woman. In her eighth month of pregnancy, she travelled all the way from Galilee to Judea and then gave birth to Jesus in a most unpleasant environment. As a disciple, she followed Jesus in his missionary tours. She was probably in her mid-forties when she did this—a rugged challenge for a middle-aged woman. Then, drained with sorrow, she “stood” at the foot of the cross to support her son, all the way until his death and then received his beaten body into her lap when he was removed from the cross. I would say that Mary was a pretty tough lady, wouldn’t you? I don’t recall seeing a statue or painting of Mary as a “spunky, tough” disciple of Jesus.
“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.’”
Elizabeth sounds pretty tough herself. A woman beyond child-bearing years, now pregnant, starts shouting (in a loud voice) and proclaiming Mary’s blessedness. Do we realize that every time we recite the Hail Mary, we are repeating the words of Elizabeth? She is the most quoted woman in history, isn’t she?
What a powerful encounter between these two great women. They were pious and God-fearing, and at the same time, amazingly strong. At this moment the Jesus within Mary’s womb awakened the child inside Elizabeth with such power that the child began jumping with praise.
We are living in the most challenging age we’ve ever experienced. The forces of evil seem more rampant each day. The “defeat” of the pandemic has weakened the resolve of many, including Christians. At this time, we are called to be tough, disciplined, and ready to take on a new assignment in God’s Kingdom. Never before have we needed the toughness and resolve of our heavenly Mother, as we travel the “hill country” of our world. Sadly, the Church, in general, seems flabby, out-of-shape, and non-responsive to the challenges of our day. Mary is here today to tell all of us to “get in shape,” put on the “shoes of eagerness to spread the gospel,” and take up our cross vigor to follow Jesus.
Will we rise out of the spirituality of “well-being” and “take to the road” as Pope Francis has so called us. In his encyclical, Evangelii Gaudium, the Pope warns against the good-feeling style of spirituality (well-being) and challenges all Christians to get “mud on their shoes” as they bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
