Mary and Elizabeth: Spiritual Friends
"When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.'
And Mary said, 'My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.'" — Luke 1: 41-42, 46-47.
This visit of Mary to Elizabeth in Luke is one of our most descriptive scripture passages about what it is like to be and have a spiritual friend or soul mate, seeking connection to Christ through each other. The response by our neighbor may sometimes be just as miraculous as joyfully singing of the Magnificat!
The story in Luke tells us that seeing Christ in our neighbor is a gift of the Holy Spirit. We are to put ourselves in position to receive this gift of the Holy Spirit, realize Christ in our neighbor, and honor Christ in our neighbor. The Spirit enables us to look, listen for, and celebrate the Christ in those we visit. The story of Mary and Elizabeth promises that when we see and reflect Christ in our neighbors back to them, they may also envision Christ in themselves and be enabled to live out, and even sometimes sing out, the Magnificat.
What does it mean to sing out the Magnificat?
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant."
The words are clear. It is living out a life of gratitude and praise, and being open to God working in our lives, even in times of great stress when we have no idea what will happen next. Our role model is an unmarried, pregnant teenage girl empowered by her older relative's love to eloquently express her faith in her God. The fruit of the Spirit that springs forth when we see Christ in each other is gratitude and praise. This is our sign that we are indeed connected to the Holy Spirit.
What a difference we could make in our own lives and our neighbor's if we could each be an Elizabeth to the Marys we visit daily at home and work. Then, when we see Christ in our neighbor, our true self, and our God connection within us, we will also "leap for joy!"
Modified from Seibert, The Living Church, May 25, 2003.
