Mary was a young maiden from the obscure village of Nazareth in Galilee and Elizabeth was her cousin married to Zechariah, a priest who served in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
But more than kinship, a new bond joined their hearts: both were pregnant.
And there was something more: their motherhood came under anomalous circumstances, at least by human standards.
Zechariah was burning incense before the Most Holy Place in the temple when he received the news.
"Your wife Elizabeth," said Gabriel, "will bear you a son."
But the good news was too difficult to bear; Elizabeth was barren.
More anomalous was the case of her cousin.
Mary asked: "How can this be if I do not have relations with a man?"
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you," said God’s messenger (Lk 1:35).
With that, Mary must have remembered the creation story, how the Spirit hovered above the waters to produce the beauty of creation out of nothing.
With that, her fear must have surrendered to awe, anxiety to wonder.
Above all, Mary must have remembered the Most High who had promised Abraham mercy and compassion.
A rush of joy and peace must have seized her heart as she heard herself said: "I am the Lord's servant. May it happen to me as you have said" (Lk 1:38).
Needless to say, theirs was motherhood with a mission.
Through these women God continued to fulfill his promise of salvation.
In the motherhood of Elizabeth and Mary, their God was on the move again, bringing the long-ago promise to its final fulfillment.
The promise to put down the mighty from their thrones and lift up the downtrodden; to fill the hungry with good things, and send the haughty away empty (Lk 1:52-53).
This they would understand more deeply from the names given to their sons.
John means "the Lord is gracious" and Jesus means "God saves.”
Elizabeth and Zechariah died while John was still young, but she lived just enough to impress upon her son the qualities that served him well in his mission to prepare the way of the Lord.
On the other hand Mary mothered Jesus to "grow in age, in wisdom, and in grace" (Lk 2:52).
Her sorrow was to see the son she loved shamed and tortured, left to die like the worst kind of criminal.
But her joy was to see her son raised from the dead, and to receive the Holy Spirit, being the first of the many disciples of her son.
What about the husbands?
Joseph, the carpenter, and Zechariah, the priest, had something in common.
Both had to pass through confusion and doubt.
But their respect and fidelity to the commitment their wives gave to God moved them to see the mystery behind the confusing events.
Faith, hope, love prevailed.
Husband and wife became equal sharers in the mission God entrusted them.
Christmas is much more than a birthday of a cute baby boy.
It is reaping the fruits of the seed planted by two mothers, two husbands and two sons who risked it all with God.
May God grant us the eyes to see the continuous birthing of this mystery.
