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Illustration: Visitation by Raphael, c. 1517
Pope Francis’ Angelus Reflection for 4th Sunday of Advent 2024
Sunday, 22 December 2024
Sunday Gospel (Luke 1:39-45) Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today the Gospel presents us with Mary who, after the angel’s annunciation, visits her elderly relative, Elizabeth, who is also expecting a child.
The Gospel of Luke is thus the meeting of two women who rejoice in the extraordinary gift of motherhood:
Mary has just conceived Jesus, the Savior of the world, and Elizabeth, despite her advanced age, is carrying John, who will prepare the way for the Messiah, John the Baptist.
They both have much to rejoice about, and perhaps erhaps we feel that they are far away, the protagonists of such great miracles, which are not usually part of our experience.
The message the Evangelist wants to give us, a few days before Christmas, is this, it is different.
In fact, contemplating the miraculous signs of God’s salvific action should never make us feel far from Him, but rather help us to recognize His presence and His love close to us, for example in the gift of every life, of every child, of his or her mother. The gift of life.
I read something beautiful in the programme “In Your Image”: “No child is a mistake! The gift of life.
In St. Peter’s Square, even today, there will be mothers with their children, and perhaps they are some who are expecting.
Please, let us not remain indifferent to their presence: let us learn to marvel at their beauty, as Elizabeth and Mary did, that beauty of expectant mothers.
Let us bless mothers and give praise to God for the miracle of life!
I like – I used to like, because now I cannot do it any more – when I used to go by bus, in the other diocese, when an expectant mother got on the bus, I would immediately offer her my seat: it is a gesture of hope and respect!
Brothers and sisters, in these days we like to create a festive atmosphere with lights, decorations and Christmas music.
But let us not forget to express our feelings of joy every time we meet a mother carrying a child in her arms or in her womb.
And when it happens to us, let us pray in our hearts and let us say too, like Elizabeth, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Lk 1:42); let us sing, like Mary, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord” (Lk 1:46), so that every motherhood may be blessed, and in every mother in the world may the name of God be thanked and exalted, who entrusts men and women with the power to give life to children!
We will soon bless the “Bambinelli” you have brought. I have brought mine: this one was given to me by the Archbishop of Santa Fé; it was made by native Ecuadorian people… the Bambinelli you have brought.
So we can ask ourselves: do I thank the Lord for making himself a man like us, to share in all our existence, except for sin?
Do I praise and bless the Lord for every child that is born?
When I meet a mother-to-be, am I kind to her?
Do I support and defend the sacred value of the life of the little ones from their conception in the maternal womb?
May Mary, blessed among women, make us capable of experiencing wonder and gratitude before the mystery of unfolding life.
