20210531 BE THE VISITATION OF GOD
31 May, 2021, Monday, Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
First reading |
Zephaniah 3:14-18 © |
The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst
Shout for joy, daughter of Zion,
Israel, shout aloud!
Rejoice, exult with all your heart,
daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has repealed your sentence;
he has driven your enemies away.
The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst;
you have no more evil to fear.
When that day comes, word will come to Jerusalem:
Zion, have no fear,
do not let your hands fall limp.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a victorious warrior.
He will exult with joy over you,
he will renew you by his love;
he will dance with shouts of joy for you
as on a day of festival.
Responsorial Psalm | Isaiah 12 © |
The rejoicing of a redeemed people
Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Truly, God is my salvation,
I trust, I shall not fear.
For the Lord is my strength, my song,
he became my saviour.
With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.
Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Give thanks to the Lord, give praise to his name!
Make his mighty deeds known to the peoples!
Declare the greatness of his name.
Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Sing a psalm to the Lord
for he has done glorious deeds;
make them known to all the earth!
People of Zion, sing and shout for joy,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Lk1:45 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who believed
that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 1:39-56 © |
The Almighty has done great things for me
Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’
And Mary said:
‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit exults in God my saviour;
because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.
Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.
He has shown the power of his arm,
he has routed the proud of heart.
He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.
He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy
– according to the promise he made to our ancestors –
of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’
Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.
BE THE VISITATION OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ZEPH 3:14-18 OR ROM 12:9-16; LUKE 1:39-56 ]
Today, we celebrate the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her visit to Elizabeth is commemorated simply because Mary showed her missionary zeal for the gospel by bringing Jesus, now in her womb, to others. Having been so filled with the Holy Spirit and with Jesus, not just in her heart but in her flesh, she wanted to share, not so much of her status as the mother of God but her joy of the indwelling presence of our Lord in her. It was with this in mind that Mary went to visit Elizabeth. She wanted also to be the visitation of God to others just as the Angel visited her and bore the good news of salvation and her divine motherhood.
We read that on arrival at Elizabeth’s house, Mary exuded so much joy that she imbued others with her joy. “She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy.'” Such was the presence of Christ in her that Mary caused John the Baptist to leap for joy. Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, recognized Mary as “the mother of my Lord.”
Today, we are called to be like Mary; to be the bearer of Jesus to others. We too are called to be missionaries for Christ, to be the bearers of the Good News in person. Mary was forgetful of herself, of her new-found status as the mother of God. She was not absorbed in herself but was always looking out for others. She was always thinking of the needs of others before her own. After being told that she was chosen to be the mother of the Saviour, her primary thought was more about Elizabeth who was pregnant in her old age. She wanted to see how she could be of help. Without delay, she travelled the hilly country of Judah to see her cousin.
Indeed, this desire to help was also demonstrated in the Wedding at Cana when she observed that the wedding couple was running short of wine for the guests. Her immediate attention was to direct the problem to Jesus her Son by simply highlighting to Him the predicament, without instructing Him what to do. Her only words were, “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3) and to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” (Jn 2:5) She helped in an unobtrusive manner, without even letting the wedding couple and the steward know about it. The steward remarked, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” (Jn 2:10)
But Mary was not only helpful, she was also a teacher who points us to God through her prayers of praise and thanksgiving. In the Magnificat, Mary showed her humility and gratitude to God. She said, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my saviour; because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid. Yes, from this day on all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me.” She credited nothing to herself but directed all glory to God. That is why, her entire life was to glorify God for all the great things the Lord had done for her. She was aware that God was her Savior and that without Him, she was nothing. She knew that what she was, was truly God’s grace and mercy given to her, His lowly handmaid. There was no sign of self-glory or pride in her.
Mary too directs us to God by showing her total dependence on Him. She said, “Holy is his name, and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him. He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the proud of heart. He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away. He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy – according to the promise he made to our ancestors – of his mercy to, Abraham and to his descendants forever.” Indeed, for Mary, God was her Savior, and ours too, if only we would turn to Him for our needs and trust in His mercy. Those who are self-reliant and proud of their achievements and their strength will ultimately destroy themselves because they are too inward-looking and too preoccupied with self.
Most of all, Mary showed us the kindness and mercy of God through her forgiveness of her Son’s enemies. Mary followed Jesus throughout His missionary journey, but was always in the background, never claiming to be the mother of the Messiah. Mary showed her fidelity to Christ not when He was successful but when He was down and out, deemed a failure, a criminal and a traitor, when everyone else had abandoned Him. Mary did not utter a word against her Son’s enemies but instead she would have said with her Son, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they were doing.”
If we want to be bearers of the Good News, to be missionaries for Christ, we must learn from Mary to be the Visitation of our Lord, bearing the Good News of love, joy, hope and forgiveness to all that we meet, whether in words or in deeds. To allow Jesus to be the center of our message and to allow Jesus to shine through us, we must empty ourselves of our pride, self-interests, self-glorification and low self-esteem. St Paul’s letter to the Romans reflect very much the way Mary lived her life, radiating Christ to all whom she met.
Indeed, as St Paul said, “Do not let your love be a pretense! Treat everyone with equal kindness; never be condescending but make real friends with the poor.” Mary’s love was genuine and without self-interest and truly focused on others and not on self. Let our love be that way. Many of us serve with self-interests. We are concerned about what others think of us, whether they think well of us, whether we are popular or whether people would be grateful to us. Sometimes, we want our ideas or projects to succeed not for the good of the poor or the community but for our ambition, to add laurels to our crown. That is why we are imposing in our views and ambitious in our plans and we get annoyed when others disagree with us.
Secondly, St Paul says if we want to be like Christ, we must “sincerely prefer good to evil.” We must overcome evil with good. As, St Paul said, “Bless those who persecute you: never curse them, bless them. Rejoice with those who rejoice and be sad with those in sorrow.” Like Mary, we must demonstrate that our hearts are magnanimous enough to suffer humbly and for the greater glory of God. We must never allow evil to triumph over us. Rather, we must, like Mary, forgive, let go and continue loving those who do not love us, for that is what her Son taught us. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Mt 5:44f)
Finally, we must love and support each other in our common mission. St Paul exhorts us, “Love each other as much as brothers should, and have a profound respect for each other. If any of the saints are in need you must share with them; and you should make hospitality your special care.” We need to support and care for each other like Mary who gave her support to the apostles at the Upper Room in prayer whilst waiting for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. She too welcomed John, the representative of the true disciples of the Lord, which means all Christians, into her heart. She is now truly the Mother of Christ and His Son’s body, the Church.
So with the faith of Mary, with the same zeal and passion, let us join Mary as St Paul exhorts us, “Work for the Lord with untiring effort and with great earnestness of Spirit. If you have hope, this will make you cheerful. Do not give up if trials come; and keep on praying.” With Mary as our model of faith, contemplation in prayer, intercessor and mother, let us make Christ present at every event in our life. Let our kindness of heart be seen by all so that they can feel the presence of Christ in us. What the world needs is not so much successful and ambitious people but people who are healers, bringing hope and joy to others in humble love and service.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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