“Who am I that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?” This profound question, asked first by Elizabeth, the Mother of John the Baptist, is often repeated throughout the course of the life of the Church. We might think of St. Juan Diego, St. Bernadette, or the three children at Fatima. Many others, and indeed each of us who seeks the intercession of the Blessed Virgin in our lives, has that same insight.
The question itself speaks of a realized sense of humility. Everything about the Annunciation, Visitation, Incarnation and Nativity of Jesus, stands in stark contrast to the expectations of the grandeur of the world. The almost despicable humble origins of Jesus reflect not the soaring imagery of the mythos of the ancients, but rather the historical reality of his life and times.
While Bethlehem lives in the memory of the Jewish people as the city of David, it was small and insignificant at the time of Jesus. It wasn’t the sort of village that one would go to or even ordinarily pass through. It was a humble village.
Humility is not a virtue held in high esteem in our modern world. We prefer “keeping up” with others, reveling in the “lives of the rich and famous,” and seeking our own notoriety as a social media celebrity. We have not only lost the virtue of humility, we have also abandoned a sense of healthy shame and personal boundaries.
That the Lord God of the universe would appear to us in his lowliness, is shocking and unnerving. The reality of his life is reduced to plastic figurines and sappy carols. Some prefer to assign the moment to the world of myth or legend, eliminating the historical and eschatological significance of the Incarnation.
The humble origins of Jesus are reflected in the humble origins of his mother, Mary. She, too, was insignificant. A young woman living in the village of Nazareth, a small village quite distant from Bethlehem and Jerusalem, Mary would have lived a very ordinary life. She was not a princess, she was not someone that others wanted to emulate; she was quite ordinary.
Elizabeth, an older and therefore more respected relative, greets Mary in her own acknowledgment of being humble in before the Lord. In the presence of this simple young woman resides the Incarnate Son of God.
Her own situation notwithstanding, Mary took the arduous and lengthy journey to assist Elizabeth who is to be the mother of John. Mary does not focus on herself. Rather she puts herself at the service of one more in need than is she.
As we celebrate Christmas this week, we should be in awe like Elizabeth as we ponder the meaning of the presence of God in our midst. We see Mary – the Mother of God – as the preeminent example and model of discipleship.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.