During pregnancy

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1: 39-45)

 During pregnancy, a mother and her child are bound together, even though they are already two separate individuals. The child feels the world around it through his mother and her emotions. The child also communicates to the mother in a mysterious but real way. In the special instance of Our Lady's cousin, Elizabeth, she immediately senses her baby John's joy. The baby's joy is brought on by Mary's arrival, but above all by Jesus who frees John from original sin. Let us pray to the one who will baptise Jesus in the Jordan river when he grows up, that he may help us be more aware of the arrival of our Saviour in our everyday, concrete lives.