The Joy of Elizabeth and Anna

“The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew” - Pope Francis, "The Joy of the Gospel"

I think it’s so fitting that we ended last semester right before Christmas, ending our study of the OT.  Then Christ comes to us as an infant at Christmas, and now we must see how His Coming has effected these women of the New Testament.

After the New Year, we have started things back up here at Most Precious Blood and it has me filled with so much joy. I love meeting new people, seeing old faces and greeting everyone in the joy of the Lord.

In his most recent document, our Papa Francis starts off his writing with pointing out all the many times that the New Testament invites us to rejoice.  We start off with the Angel’s greeting to Mary at the Annunciation.  “Rejoice!”

Then he points out the joy of a pregnant Elizabeth experienced as she encountered Mary, carrying Jesus in her womb.  Her infant leaped in her womb!  And this is where we begin today…

We find the story of Elizabeth in the Gospel of Luke.  Luke seems to have many details about Jesus’ early life in his gospel that the others do not, so many speculate that Mary was one of his sources.
Luke also seems to appreciate the value of women in the life of the early church.

Elizabeth is a descendant of Aaron, who was of the Levite tribe of Israel, which is the priestly tribe.  Her husband, Zechariah, is now a priest at the Jewish Temple. 

We first meet Elizabeth when she is introduced as the wife of Zechariah.  Then Luke tells us that “both were righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly.”  Luke 1:6

So Luke is pointing out the quality of Elizabeth and Zechariah’s character.  They were “blameless”, meaning they followed God very closely and made upright choices in their life.

We also hear from Luke that Elizabeth is barren; childless.  Do you remember Rachel, who was also childless for quite a bit of time?  Rachel allowed the suffering of infertility to harden her heart toward God and toward the people closest in her life.  But Luke makes no mention of Elizabeth’s sorrow at her childlessness. 

We know that in the Jewish culture, to be childless was shameful.  An infertile woman was deemed almost as a second rate citizen.  I can only imagine the suffering Elizabeth endured in her heart, yet Luke makes a point to let us know that she was still “blameless” before God, meaning, her faith was so strong that she didn’t let the suffering in her life rob her of a healthy relationship with her God. 

Luke also makes a point to let us know that Elizabeth and Zechariah are physically unable to conceive children.  Elizabeth had already been through menopause. 

Her husband was chosen by lot to perform the priestly duty of offering the daily sacrifice.  This required that the priest enter the altar right outside the Holy of Holies in the Temple.  In the Holy of Holies, the Jews believed was the presence of God himself, as the Arc of the Covenant dwelled there (but at this point it is speculated it was probably stolen and lost, but the Jews still regarded the area of the Temple as Most Holy). 

It is estimated that there were probably 8000 priests, so the chances of a priest being chosen to actually offer sacrifice was slim, and now Zechariah is chosen.

ONLY the priest was allowed in the Altar area every day.  There was a court right outside that Jewish men could enter, then a court behind that the Jewish women could enter, then the Court of the Gentiles. 

While Zechariah was performing his duties an Angel appeared to him and announced that he and Elizabeth would conceive and name their son John.  He questions the Angel and is made mute because of his unbelief. 

And it does come to pass that they conceive.  Can you imagine Elizabeth’s joy?!  And can you imagine her trust and courage, too?  I mean it has got to take courage to accept life joyfully at that point in one’s life. 

If you have a Bible handy, read the account of the Visitation in Luke chapter 1.

As I have pondered and reflected upon the Visitation, I always think about what joy and love surrounded Mary and Elizabeth’s meeting; Mary had pure joy for her cousin who had been barren for so long and was now given the miracle of life, the gift of motherhood; Elizabeth had joy because 1.) her infant leapt! (this is always so wonder and awe-inspiring) 2.) Mary is the mother of the Savior! 3.) The Messiah is here and all the promises that she had known as a faithful, God-fearing Jew were coming true.  Up to this point, Mary and Elizabeth were just cousins.  But now Elizabeth revers Mary as, “The Mother of My Lord”. Quite a drastic change!

This also proves Elizabeth’s humility, to highlight Mary and Jesus’ greatness before her own life.  Interestingly, this is also a virtue of her son, John.  “So this joy of mine has been made complete.  He must increase and I must decrease” (John 3:29b-30).

Elizabeth gives birth to a baby boy, just as the Angel had said.  Zechariah is still mute, and it is tradition that the father names the baby, and to give him a family name.  In this case, their family wanted the child to be named Zechariah.  But Zechariah and Elizabeth know that the child is to be named John, so Elizabeth stands up to the family and insists that he be named John, which Zechariah, with full faith and trust in God, confirms.  Then he is given his voice back.  Again, more joy.

Now, let's turn our attention to Anna.  Joseph and Mary were presenting their first-born son to God.  This is prescribed in the Jewish law, but the law does not require the Presentation be done at the Temple.  This tradition probably can be traced back to Hannah’s presentation of Samuel in the Temple. 

We also meet Anna in Luke. She was only married for 7 years and then a widow until her death.  Once she had become widowed, she decided to spend the rest of her days praying and fasting in the Temple.  Again, if you have your Bible handy, read Luke 2:36-38

I am estimating that Anna probably spent 50 years praying and fasting in the Temple!

Earlier I spoke about the Temple and how there was the Court of the Gentiles, the Court of Women, the Court of Men, then the Altar outside the Holy of Holies where only the priests could go. 

When I first learned about how the Temple was laid out, my gut reaction was, “Hey, that’s not fair for women!  But put yourself in Anna’s shoes – she for DECADES waited and prayed for the Messiah, as any good Jew did.  But she obviously was waiting with a certain FOCUS and DETERMINATION.  I personally feel like it takes a very deep passion and strong relationship with God to stay THAT committed to praying in the Temple. 

Now, I honestly don’t think Anna sat outside in the Woman’s Court frustrated all the time because her rights as a woman were not being met.  The culture was not like that at all.  That is just my modern perspective forcing itself in the story.  But I do have to wonder if she ever did just long for and wonder what it was like to be in God’s presence, every now and then.  Hoping and yearning to be near to Him.

And then, on an ordinary day, she hears Simeon pronouncing a blessing over a little baby boy, calling him the “light” and the “glory” of Israel.  At that moment, it didn’t matter that the Temple had distinctions between men, women, and Jews.  For Christ, the Messiah, had come for ALL.  There is no division in Christ; He comes to us as an unprejudiced baby; He wishes to come into the hearts of every one of us.  In that moment, she “came forward”, worshipping in awe of this infant Savior, knowing with confidence and assurance that He would save Israel.

Luke does not give us many details about Anna.  But he does mention her and so we know that she played an important role in God’s plan, just like Elizabeth.  She went out from that moment and spread the Good News.  She was one of Christ’s first disciples.  And as I read and prayed through this instance, I only imagined Anna leaving the Temple with a huge expression of joy on her face, with a “pep” in her step.  She had experienced the Joy of the Gospel!

Elizabeth, too, met the Lord with joy and enthusiasm.  She is the first recorded person in the Gospels to publically proclaim Jesus as Lord.  The something that these two women shared was that they were intimately connected to the Temple.  Really, both of these women’s whole lives centered on the Temple, as Elizabeth was from the priestly class and her husband was a priest, yet they were not allowed to physically enter the Holy Presence of God.

But now, these women encounter the Living Temple, Jesus Christ himself, and the Ark of the Covenant, Mary.  They had a PERSONAL encounter with the LIVING presence of God, not just a holy physical building.  They are among the first to “see, hear, and feel” God made flesh, Jesus Christ!!!

Ladies, the Good News that we learn from both of these women is that God is not distant!  He is not far away from us, watching us from some high lofty tower.  He has come to dwell among us, he has come to visit us RIGHT WHERE WE’RE AT.  In both cases, Jesus and Mary come TO these women.  And their instant reaction is JOY!  They encounter Christ and they are filled with joy.

I am reminded of the past few popes (and many other saints) who said, “joy is the mark of a true Christian”.  We CANNOT leave an encounter with Christ without joy.  And if we find ourselves without joy, then I think we need to do some introspection and figure out why.

I have certainly struggled with anger in the past few years since I have become a parent.  When my toddler seems to disobey all day long, I have found myself on my knees, crying and ashamed at the fit of rage that I had become.  Or, feeling so tired and overwhelmed with all of life's responsibilities, I have found myself despondent and depressed, lacking motivation to care for myself or my family.  Parenthood has tried me and tested me beyond what I ever could've imagined.  I've seen the ugliest parts of myself come through.

Somehow, by the grace of God, I am usually able to see the anger that comes out of me as a red flag to change my life.  I get to confession, confess my sins of anger and laziness.  Or make sure to make prayer time a priority, taking a good chunk of time to journal and pour out my heart to my Father. 

A few weeks back, I had found myself in the confessional for the second week in a row.  It was to the same priest as the week earlier (a priest whom I do not have any other contact with other then these two confessions).  Before the confession started, he said that I looked familiar and asked if we knew each other.  I responded, "Nope, I was just here in confession with you last week.  I am just a sinner, that's why you recognize me!"  I seriously left that confessional with so much joy.  There was something so uplifting and joy-filling about humbling myself before the Lord, admitting to Him that I could not live this life without Him and His grace!

I am so blessed to be apart of a "mom's group" on Facebook.  Many of these women live up north where I am originally from and lately they have had a lot of snow.  These mommas have been stuck inside with the kids and a bad case of "cabin fever".  I can only imagine wanting to pull my hair out and having my joy and peace easily stolen away by the circumstances.  One particular mother shared that she has to wake up, have some stretch time, some prayer time, then she spends time in front of the mirror making goofy, silly, big grins.  This always works in setting a joyful tone to her day.  This advice really resonated with me.  I think there are many days when we have to make a conscious decision to CHOOSE JOY.

I also want to challenge all of us in how we relate to Our Lord in the Eucharist, the Sacrament in which He is TRULY PRESENT, body, blood, soul and divinity.  He is physically, completely, spiritually, eternally with us in the Mass and Adoration.Jewish people, if they did not live in Jerusalem, like Joseph and Mary, had to travel long distances to go to the Temple.  Heck, there are many Catholics in the world today who have to wait months to receive the Eucharist because they are in mission territory.  But we are a drive away.  This city is named CORPUS CHRISTI and we have many Catholic churches here. 

And how do we greet Our Lord when we enter our sanctuary?  When we participate (or don’t participate) in Mass?  When we receive Him in our own bodies?

Let’s all commit to actively living out the Joy of the Gospel, by greeting Our Lord with Joy when we meet him in the sacraments, and when we meet Him in others.  Our joy comes from not only just meeting the Lord, but then actively choosing to GIVE HIM the gift of our selves; to give OTHERS the gift of ourselves.  When we choose to put Christ first in our lives, I think we will find that joy.

The point is that it is in GIVING OURSELVES, wholeheartedly to God and to others, we will possess JOY.

I want to leave you with the words of John the Baptist, the son of Elizabeth: 
“So this joy of mine has been made complete.  He must increase and I must decrease” (John 3:29b-30).