Jesus Living in Mary

The Catholic Liturgy for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Dec. 23, 2018. Gospel – Luke 1:39-45. Theme: Jesus Living in Mary.

As we get ever so close to Christmas, the liturgy reminds us that when the Son of God became man, He feely chose to do so through Mary. Since Jesus came to live among us in and through Mary, we believe that He intends for us to live our Christian lives in and through Mary, who will teach us what it means to open our hearts and lives to her Son, and thus allow Him to touch others through us.

I find this to be a very important lesson in today’s gospel wherein St. Luke recounts for us the visit of Mary to her relative Elizabeth. The unborn Jesus, living in Mary, touches both Elizabeth and John, bringing them the joy of experiencing God up close and personal. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out with joy that she was blessed to receive a visit from the Mother of God. The unborn John the Baptist was touched by grace and leapt in his mother’s womb when encountering the presence of the unborn Savior within Mary.

Both of these awesome religious experiences were made possible through Mary. She always brings Jesus to others and is a vessel of His power and presence.  Like her, we also can experience Jesus living within us and be living vessels of His presence and power as well.

The great teacher of faith, St. Augustine, tells us that we can conceive Jesus in our hearts and become His spiritual dwelling places by obedience to His Word. He says that this was true about Mary before she ever conceived Jesus in her womb. Her heart was open to embracing his Word and she placed herself generously at His disposal. And so, by faith she received Jesus within her spiritually, which then enabled her to do so physically.

Jesus says pretty much the same thing in another passage of Luke’s gospel where he states that those who hear the Word of God and live it are blessed like His mother. How often do we take the time to read some part of the Scriptures and prayerfully ponder the Word of God? How open are our hearts to really hearing this Word and embracing it? Pope Francis tells us that this should be a part of a Christian’s everyday prayer-life.

Another way Jesus truly lives within us is, of course, through the Real Presence of the Holy Eucharist. We know that through the priest’s ministry at Mass, it is no longer merely bread and wine that we receive, but the actual Risen Body and Blood of Christ.  We receive Him into us and become His living, walking, breathing tabernacles. Holy Communion makes us so much like Mary, doesn’t it?  

So, it seems to me that if we want to truly welcome and embrace Jesus’ powerful presence within us, we should ask Mary to teach us the way. This is why I have a personal habit of reciting a short little prayer that I was taught long ago to repeat within my heart as I await my turn to receive Holy Communion: Mary my Mother bring me to Jesus, prepare my heart for His coming.

Through our intimate union with Jesus in both Word and Sacrament, sustained and nurtured by a meaningful and vibrant personal prayer-life, we cannot help but become instruments of his power and presence like Mary. Notice that Mary did not do anything unusual towards Elizabeth or John to bring about their spiritual experience. She simply “rang the doorbell” so to speak, and when it was answered the Holy Spirit took over and Jesus living in Mary touched both of them.

And that’s how simple it can be for you and for me. In our ordinary everyday life, we can be like Mary with Jesus living within us. We, too, can bring Jesus Christ to a spiritually sick and hungry world. We simply need to cherish and nurture our relationship with Him through prayer, through embracing His Word, and through our Eucharistic devotion, so that He can reach out to others through us, blessing and touching those with whom we live, work and socialize.