This Series will focus on the Bible - on Holy Scripture and passages I like - on characters in the Old Testament that I admire - on New Testament lessons that I am still learning - on the great things from the Best Book Ever!
I love my Catholic faith. No other faith relies on Holy Scripture AND Sacred Tradition to share God’s love for us. No other faith has the amazing saints that never fail to guide us and impart wisdom to us. There aren’t too many saints that are lucky enough to be mentioned in the Bible, but one of my favourite saints is numbered among them.
St. Elizabeth. The mother of St. John the Baptist. The cousin of Mary. My guide and help to being authentically happy for other mothers.
If you read my article from January 2020, then you know that I was given a list from a priest friend of mine. It was a list of religious things for Nathan and I to do together, to help our faith lives and relationship with each other, to help us through the difficulty of my condition.
One of the items on that list was to say the Rosary for 90 days, and to focus on women in the bible who were barren, but through God’s grace, were given children. One of those women was St. Elizabeth.
Growing up, I knew that St. Elizabeth was barren for most of her life. She only became pregnant with St. John the Baptist when she was much older than most mothers of her time. It wasn’t until last year that I realized what a great example St. Elizabeth would be for me.
Once a month, my cousin hosts a Catholic girls night, where a talk is given, there are discussion groups, and then community and fellowship afterwards. At one of her events, we watched a section of Lisa Cotter’s talk from the Women’s Session of the 2019 Steubenville Conference (I have included the link at the end of the blog post - take time to watch it).
In her talk, Lisa mentions that when Elizabeth found out the Mary was pregnant with Jesus, she was not angry or jealous of Mary. She did not hold a grudge against Mary for becoming pregnant sooner, at a younger age than her. Elizabeth was genuinely happy for Mary. She did not focus on her own struggles and difficulties. She felt authentic joy for her cousin. Lisa goes on to say that as Catholic women, as women in general, we need to be the same. We are all on the same team, and when one of us wins, we all win.
This had hit me hard, because I had been wallowing in my sufferings. I had been jealous and resentful towards women around my age when they were blessed with children and I wasn’t. But Lisa Cotter’s talk forced me to take a step back and look at my situation from Elizabeth’s eyes.
I put this blog post under “The Bible” header because, unlike so many of the saints, Elizabeth’s story is mentioned in the best book ever written. Elizabeth and Zechariah are mentioned in Luke 1:5-25.
“Both were righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years.” - Luke 1:6-7
Elizabeth was faithful to God, but in those days, if you were unable to have children, it was seen as a curse, or an indication that you had committed a grave sin and this was your punishment.
When the angel of the Lord tells Zechariah and Elizabeth that they will conceive and bear a son, Elizabeth says,
“So has the Lord done for me at a time when He has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others.” - Luke 1:25.
These words are similar to those that Rachel says when she becomes pregnant with her son Joseph: “God has removed my disgrace.” - Genesis 30:23.
When Mary comes to visit Elizabeth, instead of feeling anger and jealousy, Elizabeth greets Mary by saying,
“Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached me ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are youth believe that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” - Luke 1:42-45.
Isn’t Elizabeth amazing?
She knew that she had been given a wonderful gift by God when she became pregnant. She knew that Mary was blessed among all women, and she didn’t hold any resentment towards her for being “more special” or “more blessed” than she was.
Elizabeth was authentically happy, genuinely joyful for Mary.
I want to be like Elizabeth. For my current season in life, she is my guide and role model. The Visitation is the second of the Joyful Mysteries. And I’m sure you are surprised to hear that is it my favourite mystery.
I have been reflecting on Elizabeth a lot lately, praying to her, praying for myself, and this past week, I have been able to see some of the fruits of my prayers.
Back in March, I found out that my younger sister was pregnant. While I was happy for her, I was incredibly sad for myself. That sadness overshadowed my joy for her, and it was very difficult for me to handle.
I would cry when I talked to my sister. I would cry when I saw my sister. I would cry when I thought about my sister.
But I prayed every day, asking God and St. Elizabeth to help me be authentically happy for her and the gift of her baby.
I went to visit my sister a few days ago, and even though the majority of what we talked about was her baby, I didn’t think of crying at all. I was able to join in those conversations, able to go to the baby section of the store and look at baby things without feeling sad. I was able to be happy and joyful for her.
It wasn’t until I was driving home that I realized what had happened. There were still times during our visit when I felt slightly sad, but it was nothing like the waves of emotions that had come over me before. I realized that my prayers were being heard, and the God had blessed me. He allowed me to let go of my sufferings, and instead focus on the joy of my sister’s gift. On the joy of my niece or nephew (I think it’s a girl).
Suffering is never easy. Knowing that you haven’t been given the same gifts as everyone else is tough. Seeing other people with the gifts you want is hard, but God has a plan for each of us. We may never receive those gifts that we want, but God is blessing us in other ways. God loves us, and He wants to give us so much. Never doubt that He has a plan for your life.
St. Elizabeth, pray for us.
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Before I leave you, I would like to clear up a few misconceptions about my condition.
When I talk about my condition, I speak in very vague terms. Not to be difficult, but because it is very personal. As far as I know, I do not have fertility issues. As far as I know, I am still able to have children, but my condition being what is was, made that unlikely but not impossible.
I have made immense progress in the last 6 months, and now my condition is much less severe than what it was. I am almost fully cured of it. The likelihood of my having children it much higher now, but I still need to put everything in God’s hands.
For those of you who have been praying for me, thank you, thank you, thank you. Your prayers have been much appreciated! This has not been an easy journey for me, but looking back now, I can see so many blessings that this has brought me.
I’m praying for all of you, that you can see the blessings that God has placed in your life!
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