FEAST OF THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY - 2022

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who believed
that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled. LK 1:45

ZEPHANIAH 3:14-18 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The greatest enslavement we experience as long as we are alive in the world is slavery to our passions. All habitual sin holds us in bondage. The more we indulge our weaknesses whether in small things or great we are slaves. We are set free in You, Christ Jesus, Son of the Living God but sin robs us of this freedom that belongs to the children of God. 

When the prophet Zephaniah was inspired to write this canticle of joyous praise for the children of Israel he was not speaking of her natural enemies around her, and there were many, rather he prophesied about a time when the Lord, the King of Israel, would be in the presence of His people. He would crush the real Enemy whose only purpose is to steal, destroy, and murder.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Visitation of Your Mother, the Blessed Virgin, to her cousin Elizabeth at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, for she too was with child. The world had no idea how earth-shattering this encounter was between the new mothers and more importantly the two babes in the womb. Your cousin recognizing God leaped with joy in Your Presence. 

We live our lives in shackles brought about by our fears, anxieties, addictions, our pain, suffering, and all our negative feelings that trigger responses that rob us of peace and joy which are Your gifts to us.

Today, let us allow the words of the prophet to resonate within us and rejoice at what God has done for us, His people. The Church is the New Jerusalem, God dwells in her. You have conquered, You are victorious, You exult over us, the new people of God from every tribe and every nation. 

We are free with the freedom that is conferred on all who believe that You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, whom the Father sent into the world to reveal to us His exultant and abiding love for us, His children. Amen! Halleluiah!

LUKE 1:39-56 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Every evening at Vespers all priests and religious pray or
sing the Magnificat alone or in community and many lay people in the Church around the world join them, hearts, minds, and voices resound as the people of God echo Mary's glorious hymn of praise to God. 

Today, in a very special way the Church recalls and celebrates in the Liturgy of the Holy Mass, the Visitation of our Blessed Mother to her cousin Elizabeth. Luke records this event in words that paint a vivid and vibrant picture and Church Fathers tell us that he would have got a personal reciting of the event from the very lips of Your Mother, Mary. 

St. Luke gives us a description of the events beginning with the Annunciation as one that reveals Your Mother as a young woman of contemplation and action. She was driven to action in the power of her Spouse, the Holy Spirit. So perfectly was her will in sync with the will of God, even though she often did know the why of His will, she yielded humbly and obediently to it. Her will was aligned to God's in all things so perfectly that it was just one will, the divine will, operating in her at all times from the moment of her conception. She was uniquely, and magnificently designed by the Triune God, and no creature ever created by God rendered Him such perfect praise in all things as Mary, the most sublime of all God's creatures. She mirrored God's perfect image, always. 

Beloved, one has only to read the words of the Magnificat to know that the words that she uttered came from an awestruck heart at the marvel God had wrought in her. She knew that it was God who chose her and raised her up above all His creatures to cooperate with Him and bear in her virginal and immaculate womb, His only Son. She was His vessel, the New Ark of the Covenant consecrated by the Most High to give Flesh to the Eternal Word of God. She made it possible for You to become like us in all things save sin. 

Luke records for all ages the epiphany revealed to both sets of cousins - Elizabeth who was cousin to Mary and the child in her womb who was Your cousin. By the power of the Holy Spirit were both made aware that they were in the presence of the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God made Man. 

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. Three whole months during which perhaps for the only time in her life she could exult openly and wholeheartedly with Elizabeth who knew her divine secret and shared completely in her joy.