Tracy's Blog

Christmas is coming quickly and I am still caught up in Mary's reaction to the news that she was going to give birth to the Messiah.  Last week I said that the text ( Luke 1:39-45 ) didn't tell us why Mary went to visit Elizabeth.  While technically that is true... I was reading too small of a passage.  Earlier in Luke 1:36, Gabriel tells Mary, " Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month ." So, I think it is pretty safe to say that Mary went to visit Elizabeth because of Gabriel's news - her cousin who was unable to conceive is now well on her way to having a baby!  And it is during this visit with Elizabeth that Mary proclaims the words that are now known to us as the Magnificat or Mary's Song, Luke 1:46-55.   And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47       and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48  for he has been mindf...

At some point after hearing that she was to conceive and give birth to Jesus, God's Son, Mary leaves Nazareth to go see her cousin, Elizabeth.  It is a beautiful encounter when they meet with baby John leaping in his mother's womb at the sound of Mary's voice and Elizabeth, filled with the Spirit, blessing Mary and being amazed that she would be able to welcome " the mother of my Lord " ( see Luke 1:39-45 ). Last week, I focused on Mary's faith-filled servant attitude that said, " Let it be to me according to your word " (Luke 1:38).  What I noticed today as I read the passage about Mary's visit to Elizabeth is the confirmation that Elizabeth gives Mary as she makes her loud Spirit-filled exclamation. " And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord ." (Luke 1:45). Gabriel didn't say anything to Mary once she accepted the message he gave her.  He departed. (Luke 1:38).  ...

Luke 2: 26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27  to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28  The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29  Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33  and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34  “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35  The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of ...

It is the first Sunday in Advent but I've been walking the road to Bethlehem already for awhile.  Why? How?  Well, two weeks ago, the City of Selkirk put up a nativity scene made out of clear lights on white plastic silhouettes a few blocks down on my street.  Almost daily I walk past it and think about Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.  Two things strike me about it.  First, it is kind of hard to see the Holy Family clearly.  Or maybe a better way to put it is that it is hard to see each person in the Holy Family distinctly.  It's just the way the nativity scene was made with Mary cradling Jesus and Joseph hovering near by.  This lack of distinctiveness motivates me on a project that is long overdue: to take time this Advent to think about Mary (more to come on that in the weeks to come....).  The second thing that intrigues me about our "little Bethlehem scene" is that it is located very near the new homeless shelter,...