Throughout Advent we’ve been listening to the voices of the prophets from of old, but this Sunday we meet two prophets of the New Testament: Elizabeth and Mary. Are you surprised to think of them as prophets? I am, actually, but once I read the visitation story this way, I can’t unsee it. And I don’t want to.

I always looked at this story as an affirmation of the beautiful ways people mentor and support each other. Mary goes in haste to Elizabeth – why? Is it because she’s pregnant and unmarried and things back home suddenly got pretty dicey? Is it because she’s had this tremendous experience of God and doesn’t know what to do with it, so she seeks out her older cousin who has also had an experience of God? Maybe Elizabeth can offer some help or advice.

I still appreciate how this story depicts the relationship between Elizabeth and Mary, but what I see now is not simply a greeting from one woman to another. What I notice is Elizabeth prophesying like all the other prophets throughout Scripture. She’s filled with the Holy Spirit and speaks in the prophet’s loud voice for God. She affirms the holiness of Mary’s conception and the nature of this child growing in Mary’s womb as the Holy One of Israel. Then she blesses her, not for her willingness to bear this child, but for her belief. “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” I’ve always focused on Mary’s yes to God, but it’s true that in order to give consent so freely and generously, she must have believed what the angel told her. Signs of a pregnancy would be a sure confirmation that something extraordinary happened, so it likely wasn’t hard to believe that promise. God’s promise, though, is more than just the conception of this child. It extends beyond Mary and encompasses the promises spoken by all the prophets before her. God’s promise works through Mary, but it’s a promise of a savior for all of humanity. She’s blessed for believing and living into the whole of God’s promise to all of us.

If you read a little further in the Gospel of Luke, you can see that Mary’s response to Elizabeth’s prophetic utterance is to prophesy herself. We recite “my soul magnifies the Lord” every day at evening prayer, so it’s easy to think that it’s tame and pretty. But if you really stop to look at the Canticle of Mary, it’s subversive. It speaks of overthrowing power. It affirms that the poor and oppressed will rise up. Once I acknowledge that, it’s hard to see Mary as some timid girl from the country. She’s a prophet in her own right, assenting to her role in God’s promise and then proclaiming what its fulfillment will look like. If you’re one of the poor of the world, one of the oppressed and marginalized, this is good news. But if you’re the oppressor, if dominance is your game, you’d better watch out. Isn’t that the message of every prophet? As they say, prophets comfort the afflicted but afflict the comfortable.

Where we fall in the dichotomy of powerful versus powerless is a topic for another day, but what I reflect on now is that last line from Elizabeth. “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” I ask myself whether or not I too believe in the fulfillment of God’s promises. What has God promised? I think of mercy and presence, love and redemption. God has promised a kingdom of love and equity and has sent us on a mission to both build and proclaim it. What does this look like for us? The church appears to be in a state of flux. Fewer people are coming to church these days, and this is true across denominations. I don’t say that as a judgement – I trust that people have their reasons – but I wonder what will become of those who are still here. Will we continue to have a community? Will we always be together in mission? Will the church be there to serve people in the future? I just don’t know. And besides church, there’s plenty of chaos in our midst – pandemic, financial instability, political crises throughout the world, natural disasters. It’s overwhelming.

With all that’s happening, believing in the fulfillment of God’s promises is hard. I don’t know if I have the gritty faith of Mary and Elizabeth. And yet, God has never failed us. People fail each other, to be sure, but God has never failed us. And if it looks like God is failing us or not showing up or deaf to our cries, then it’s not the end of the story. Ask the Israelites. It’s just a long story.

Mary’s story doesn’t end with a mysterious conception and Elizabeth’s proclamation. It doesn’t even begin there; it begins with the dream of the prophets who came before. And it’s followed by some intense difficulties, ordinary stuff we don’t hear about, a few brief but intense years of Jesus’s ministry, great suffering, and resurrection. The story doesn’t end there, in fact. It continues in the Word Made Flesh enfleshed in the community that keeps living and breathing today (those who come to church and, I think, even those who don’t). So, I wonder: is it harder to believe in God’s promises as an impoverished single mother in an occupied country in the first century or as a person of faith today with our unique challenges, uncertainty, and chaos? I don’t know, but I do take comfort from Mary and Elizabeth, two of God’s prophets who model deep faith amidst great difficulty. I can believe in the promises of which they speak.

We’re all called to bear Christ into the world and to share the Good News in our own context. It may be true that we’re surrounded by chaos and uncertainty, but the reality is that the future is always uncertain – for Elizabeth and Mary and for us too. Prophets don’t predict the future. They speak a word of hope; they speak for God. God keeps making promises, and when those are fulfilled, God makes more promises. Blessed are we who believe that what was spoken to us by God would be fulfilled.” And God is still speaking.

For Reflection:

• What would the fulfillment of God’s promises look like for you?

• Do you believe in God’s promises? What helps you to believe? What makes it hard to believe?

• What do you need from God as you move through this 4th week of Advent?

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by Sister Leslie Keener, CDP

Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She also serves on the Coordinating Council of Spiritual Directors International. She enjoys music, dancing, meaningful conversations, and spicy food.