The Fourth Sunday of Advent Year C

The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Luke 1.39-45 [46-55}

Gaze on a woman in pregnancy. At the beginning, when the baby first moves, it is a secret known only to the mother, then shared with her partner, family and close friends, and in time, the domed belly will force all around to know that a new life is about to appear in the world. The way the woman holds her hands, palms spread, over the stretched skin, as if protecting the baby within, makes it obvious. Her hands are always in communication with the baby, feeling its twists and turns, the times it leaps in the womb. Gaze on Elizabeth, older in years, more advanced in her pregnancy, greeting her young cousin, Mary. Had rumours of Mary’s predicament already reached her, or was her arrival the first time she learnt of this second baby? Here are two women, expecting the miracle of childbirth for the first time in their lives, full of trepidation. But all those worries dissolve when the baby moves and new life is felt...