Dear Friends,
We are in our final week of Advent; this year, we get almost a full fourth week. We have been walking our Advent journey with Mary. This week, we pause to look at one more piece of Mary’s spirituality – that she did not experience life and God alone.
When the angel Gabriel disrupts Mary’s daily routine with the news that she is going to be the mother of the Christ child, she does not isolate or hide. No, she packs her bags and heads to the other end of the country to see her cousin Elizabeth. Good news needs to be shared, or it does not seem real. In a very real sense, the Good News of Jesus creates friends, creates community.
Isn’t that what all of us desire – a friend who loves the Lord, a person with whom I can entrust my joys and sorrows and help me make sense of those joys and sorrows in the Light of Christ, a companion who encourages me to live as a child of God and to see the world through the eyes of God.
Mary’s visit reminds us that everyone ought to have an Elizabeth in his or her life. In his Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales wrote: “Love everyone with a deep love based on charity . . . but form friendships only with those who can share virtuous things with you. The higher the virtues you share and exchange with others, the more perfect your friendship will be.”
The gift of friendship is something that many of the saints commented on, because at the heart of friendship is the truth that God never destined us to be alone. Together, we are called to help each other on the journey to heaven. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was aware of this need. In a letter to her dear friend Eliza Sadler, Seton wrote, “The longer I live and the more I reflect and know how to value the realities of friendship, the more precious that distinction becomes.”
While there are many types of friendships, the most important ones, our best friends, should lead us closer to God. Those friendships help us see ourselves, affirm our God given dignity, and challenge us to become not just the best person we can be, but a saint.
To be an “Elizabeth” is an important task; to find an Elizabeth is a rare blessing from God. May we, like Mary and Elizabeth, respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit with obedience and joy. And may we cultivate within ourselves the virtue of charity so we may accompany our close friends to heaven.
May your Christmas celebrations this week be filled with good friends who help you discover the joy of the Christ child’s love.
Peace,
Fr. Damian