Lk 1:39-45
39During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, 40where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, 42cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. 45Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
MARY GREETED ELIZABETH: By the use of a diptych, Luke parallels the events surrounding the birth of John the Baptist and that of Jesus. By means of this comparison of stories in two panels, the evangelist shows that Jesus is greater than John. So we have two accounts of annunciation, birth, circumcision, and growth.
In the Visitation, Luke breaks the pattern and brings the mothers and babies (in the womb) together in one setting. The comparison, however, continues though done with subtle hues. Elizabeth’s infant “leaps for joy” even from the womb; the scene is reminiscent of David and the Israelites singing and dancing when the Ark of the Covenant was being brought to Jerusalem (2 Sm 6:5). It is because Mary, like the Ark of the Covenant, carries “the Lord” with her, the Lord whose way John will someday prepare. Even the mothers are compared. Elizabeth is truly blessed because she becomes a mother in her old age. Yet, she blesses her young cousin Mary because of the fruit of her womb (the Messiah) and because of her obedient faith: “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”