The fourth Sunday of Advent encourages us to seek signs of God’s presence in our lives. In today’s Gospel, we read about the Visitation, the event when Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth. This event is filled with joy as Elizabeth recognized Jesus when her baby, John, leapt into her womb. This moment highlights the importance of being open to God’s presence in our everyday lives.

“And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” We noticed that her emotion went beyond gratitude. She was given the gift of wonder and awe. Also known as fear of the Lord, this gift of the Holy Spirit makes us aware of God’s glory. It encourages us to be in awe of God, to acknowledge God’s greatness, and to rely on Him. She is well aware of how fortunate she was to have her Lord and the Mother of God in her home.

There are many things worth pondering in every event of our existence, even little yet extraordinary circumstances, where God’s presence is bestowed. They are those situations that make us more humble and able to see ourselves as unworthy of receiving or being favored by such graces and yet it was given to us. The kicking of the baby inside her womb could be just a normal fact that the baby moves, but then this humble soul responds with overwhelming amazement. However, a unique reaction of astonishment and gratefulness let her to praise God.

Fr. Francisco Palau in the same way wrote in his Month of Mary saying that “God’s presence in our souls through pure faith produces hope because through faith we see him as redeemer, savior protector and good”. Indeed, Elizabeth would not have responded that way without faith and confidence that it was the son of God paying her a visit.

In our own lives, God has bestowed upon us a multitude of amazing graces. However, we fail to recognize them for what they are far too frequently. We are blind to the amazing blessings that God has bestowed upon us, and as a result, we are unable to feel the awe that ought to accompany God’s gifts. That is exactly what makes us a little too different from the Gospel’s character today. But living an ordinary and simple life is much more blessed by God’s presence. He initially revealed himself to people who could elevate the ordinary into the spectacular, not far from his kindness and love. We have plenty of time during this Advent season to reflect on and recollect instances in our lives that we just let go of without recognizing how God is at work.

As we look at our own life, what graces has God given to us? Are they visible to us? Do we appreciate them? And, if so, are we able to go even beyond gratitude to experience a holy wonder and awe of God’s goodness and blessings in our life? Though it might be difficult to achieve this level of amazement, it is a genuine gift that each one of us should work to acquire and enjoy on a daily basis.

Let us reflect today upon this holy gift of the Holy Spirit that Elizabeth experienced. Place ourselves at the scene. Try to see the experience within her heart. Try to feel how she felt. Try to sense the praise that resulted. And try to open ourselves more fully to receive this same gift of the Holy Spirit in our life. The Lord comes to us constantly by grace, especially every time we receive Him in Holy Communion. For that reason, we must all strive to live a holy wonder and awe every day of our lives.