I really like this quote the focuses us on a specific spirituality for the Advent season: “Advent spirituality is not a time to meditate on the actual birth of Christ. According to tradition, we ought not to sing Christmas carols until Christmas itself, for Advent is not a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus in the manger but a time to long for the coming of the Savior. The appropriate sense of this season is captured in the pleading of “O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel.” Our readings, our liturgies, and our traditions during Advent help us prepare for the coming of the Lord at Christmas. As we hear of Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth today, let us greet Mary with the same words that Elizabeth used: “Blessed are you who believe.” For that is the most important thing we can say on our journey of faith. We can study theology for years and years. We can read the Bible again and again. We can know the Church’s moral teachings up and down, inside and out. However, if we cannot say those two words - “I believe. - What does it all mean? Today, we hear of Mary’s faith. We hear of Mary’s trust. We hear of the baby John the Baptist leaping in his mother’s womb in the mere presence of Mary and Jesus. John knows that he is in the presence of something special. Mary and Elizabeth come together in their visitation in joy and in trust, in praise and in charity. Like Mary and Elizabeth, let us all have the faith to believe the impossible.
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