Blessed fruit of the womb: Luke brings together the two women—Elizabeth and Mary—with whom he has begun the Gospel and unites the announcements of the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus. He then presents two canticles. In the first, Elizabeth praises Mary as a believer. Mary is portrayed as a model of discipleship from the annunciation to Pentecost; she hears the word of God and she acts on it because she believes it.
Mary’s canticle serves to clarify the link between what God does for one person and what he does for the whole world, namely overturn the structures of society.
Before these two hymns, Luke has craftily united his two unique birth announcements, which portrayed the role of John the Baptist and Jesus. When Mary greets Elizabeth, the infant in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy. Elizabeth makes it clear which of the two infants is the greater. Even before he is born, Jesus is declared to be the Lord by the author of this Gospel. John, in Elizabeth’s womb, also recognizes the Messiah.