Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary
When I was reading this passage from the Bible today, the word "sound" seemed to jump out at me. Like God was taking a yellow marker and highlighting it.
" 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 why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.'”
I thought about how these two women connected with each other -- one spoke and the other heard. Connection made. The Holy Spirit acted through Mary's words and through Elizabeth's sense of hearing.
I was reminded of God speaking and the universe was created. We experience God's creation through our senses. God knows we need to hear, and see, and smell, and taste, and touch. We experience God through our senses.
"And at this sound..."
The word "sound" reminded me also of the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit filled the apostles and Mary and they began to speak in other languages. "And at this sound," people from all over Jerusalem gathered to "hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power."
From the beginning of Jesus' life on earth inside his mother, to the day of Pentecost when God sent the Holy Spirit to continue Jesus' work on earth, the Holy Spirit has been bringing people together. Making connections.
It makes me wonder, can we experience this today? Have you known the presence of the Holy Spirit when someone spoke to you?