Elizabeth

Elizabeth
Luke 1

I chose Elizabeth because she is special to me.

I was born on the Feast of the Birth of St. John the Baptist, and both my First and Life Professed were on the Feast of the Visitation.

Luke recounts the conception and birth of both John and Jesus. Their lives and the lives of their mothers are intertwined forever.

Elizabeth was a very strong woman. She had to be!

As the angel foretold John’s birth, Zechariah doubted and was struck deaf and mute (couldn’t hear or speak). Elizabeth was advanced in years and pregnant, not a socially comfortable situation to be in.

The angel told her cousin Mary about Elizabeth’s “interesting condition.” Mary was in the same condition but at the other end of her reproductive life. The angel tells Mary nothing is impossible with God.

Mary goes to Elizabeth for support.

When John is born, Elizabeth names him, but that’s not enough. Zechariah must.

When his father names him John, Zechariah’s speech and hearing are restored.

It was Elizabeth’s strength that made it possible.

Sister Margaret Hayward, Oakville.