Being present for one another and for God

I am often struck by the way people greet each other before Mass begins. It is very obvious that people are glad to see one another, and if some are missing, others ask about them and wonder how they are. The way we greet people and welcome them can bring a blessing to them.

Upon arriving at Elizabeth’s home in the hill country of Judah, Mary, we are told, greeted Elizabeth and, because of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. It would be wonderful if we could all greet others in ways that brought the Holy Spirit to life in them. Not only was Mary’s greeting of Elizabeth a source of blessing for her, but Elizabeth’s subsequent greeting of Mary was a source of blessing for Mary.

In greeting Mary, Elizabeth declares her the most blessed of all women, because of the special child she was carrying in her womb, and also because she believed the word of promise that the Lord had spoken to her through the Angel Gabriel.

Here was a meeting between two women that brought each of them closer to the Lord. There is a pattern here for all of us. Our calling is to be present to others, to greet others, in a way that brings them closer to the Lord and creates a space for the Lord to come alive more fully within them.

Martin Hogan, The Word is Near You, on Your Lips and in Your Heart