ALL ABOUT THE BABIES

Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.(Luke 1: 39-45)

Luke tells a story about pregnant women greeting each other that is very genuine and human.

Genuine, in that the story of a child in the womb making a sudden dramatic move, apparently in response to exterior events, is something mothers actually talk about. "I did Suchand such, and the baby gave a tremendous kick." It's not really the type of story you think to make up. But, if Luke was going around actually talking to the people involved in the life of Jesus, especially if he talked to the women in the family, it is the kind of story that they would tell.

But it is also a very human story. Most expecting parents learn of the pregnancy somewhere into the first month or so. As a result, the waiting time they have is about seven months long. It's still a long time, but it does give them time to prepare for this coming person. They prepare the nursery for the child, they inform the extended family that it is about to be added to, they gather clothing for the infant. They prepare. And the mother-to-be, as the child grows, becomes more and more focused on what the child she is carrying is doing. According to my mother, I would plant my feet on her diaphram and stretch, knocking the breath out of her.

So, just after the angel Gabriel tells Mary that she was going to have a child (most unusually, since she had never "been with a man"), she goes to visit her relative that is also "unusually pregnant." And Elizabeth, who by now was nearing the time for her delivery hears Mary calling from outside and her baby had a strong reaction to that sound.

But not only does Elizabeth's baby have a strong reaction, Elizabeth does as well. She knows that Mary's baby will be someone special, that indeed, her Lord comes to her in the womb of Mary.

What an amazing feeling that must have been!

Mothers (usually) look forward to the birth of their child as a wonderful event. It isn't just the end of having this presence inside them, it is the joy of finally having that child in their arms, to look at the face of the little one, to touch the tiny hands, to know the reality of this new being that has entered the world.

In Advent, we look forward to the coming of Christ. But often it is an external thing. We read the scripture stories. We sing the Christmas carols. We set up nativity scenes - either small ones at home or enacting them at church. But the expectation is "out there", not necessarily immediate to us.

I know expectant mothers, and parents who have just had their babies delivered. "Expecting" is a very immediate thing to them. Even a few weeks after the baby's arrival, all the waiting they went through is still vivid to them. And these are "ordinary" babies. They are children that are born of the bond between the parents, and the family enjoys the manifestation of this mixing of heritages. The parents may have hopes and dreams for these little children, but they are expecting very human lives for the newborn babies.

Elizabeth and Mary knew that their children were facing extraordinary lives. What wonder that must have added to the waiting time.

The Coming of the Lord. As a little baby. Something very human, vulnerably human. Something very familiar.

And yet .... it is the Lord that is coming. What a wonder!