Fr. Martin Pable, reflects on our gospel verse, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior” and notes that, Mary, pregnant through the mysterious power of the Holy Spirit, must have felt quite alone. Needing to talk to another woman, she seeks out her aging cousin Elizabeth, who had recently become pregnant. At their meeting, something wondrous occurs: When Elizabeth hears Mary’s greeting, the child in her womb “leaped for joy.” John, the Messenger, salutes Jesus the Message. What went on in that home for the next three months? No doubt Mary helped Elizabeth with household tasks. But I picture long evenings in which Mary, Elizabeth and Zechariah ask each other: “What is the meaning of all this? What is God doing at this moment in our people’s history?” I can imagine Zechariah with a writing tablet saying: “Remember what Isaiah wrote about the Messiah to come? He will save our people from their sins, bring comfort and healing to them, teach us again how God wants us to live.” This is the wonderful mystery, the Visitation, that we recall every Advent.