And she spoke out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed are you among women, and

blessed is the fruit of your womb. Luke 1:42

Respected Teachers, parents and my dear friends,

All of us wish and expect to be blessed by God in our worldly lives. Todays passage
for my speech is a dialogue between two women, both pregnant who are blessed by
the Almighty abundantly. In Luke 1:42 the aged lady Elizabeth on seeing the young
Mary says in a loud voice , Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit
of your womb.
The passage is quite familiar to all of us. Mary who is pregnant out of the Holy Spirit
set out and went to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house
of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Marys 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. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a
fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.
The visit of Mary to Elizabeth and their conversation are beautiful events in Bible
narrating the importance of mutual care and respect. Both women are pregnant
because of divine intervention. But both of them humble themselves to
acknowledge the greatness of the other.
The first thought I would like to meditate from this passage is it reminds us to
realize the presence of Christ in our neighbor. Modern world is often considered as a
world of competitions. No one is bothered about another one. When Elizabeth
applauds Mary by attributing great words one her, She is infact realizing the
presence of Jesus with in Mary. Genesis 1:27 says that we all are created in Gods
own image. We all receive the holy body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ through
Holy qurbana. Thus its quite sure that Jesus is present with in us and in our fellow
beings. Yet we are not able to identify the divine presence in them. We often ridicule
them, abuse them and even make joke of them. We should realize that when we do
such things we are mocking at Jesus who is present with in them. Elizabeths words
are a beautiful reminder to us to respect the one in front of us.
The second point I would like to share from this passage is that it bridges the gap
between two generations. We can call the meeting of the two ladies as the meeting
of generations.
One of the important inventions of the 20th century is the construction of Old age
homes. Many aged people are not able to find a proper space with in the family. We

often complain that there exists a generation gap between us and our senior
citizens. The generations are in fact struggling hard to understand each other. The
old generation complains that the younger generation are not caring them and they
are desolate. The new generations sees the same situation as the older generation
not understanding them and standing on their way. The young woman Marys visit
to Judea is a diection for us youngsters to separate some time and effort to look
after the aged ones who are in need . The verse we are meditating today is the
beautiful response of the aged Elizabeth who is stating that Mary is infact blessed.
Such a response should have comforted Mary who was also in great confusion and
distress. Only through mutual acceptance that we can bridge the gap between the
generations. The meeting of the two great women serves a great model for all of us.
Another important aspect that we can understand from this passage is about the
holiness of Mother Mary. Other than the angel Gabriel this verse is the first words of
acceptance of the divine conception of Mary by a human being. The words of course
would have encouraged Mary to be steadfast in the great responsibility that she is
going to undertake. You are blessed among women The words would have
strengthened her to be a role model for all women. Blessed is the fruit of your
womb definitely would have encouraged her to be submissive to the divine will.
The most important feature of the verse is that it prompted Mary to deliver the
famous song of Mary which is often termed as Magnificat. The song starts with the
verse My soul rejoices in the Lord. And we can understand Elizabeths words of
praise made Mary courageous to stand firm in the Lord.
Let me conclude my words. Elizabeth and Mary are two great icons of Faith who
stood firm as a rock. Elizabeths words that we meditate today are not mere verses
of praising. Rather that was a boost for Mary to proceed strongly with her vocation.
For us readers also it delivers many valuable messages. Let us try hard to respect
others and to understand the divine presence in them. Let us try to bridge the gap
between the generations. Above all let us understand the true meaning of the holy
incarnation of our Lord through Mother Mary. May the Holy spirit guide us and help
us to lead a meaningful Christian life. May God bless all of us. Thank you