Gospel Reading for May 31, 2024 – Luke 1: 39-56
GODLIKE
Feast of the Visitation
of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.”
Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
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Mary’s proclamation, commonly called “Magnificat” is a very vivid description of the saving power of God, all of which would be a description of the son she would bring forth into the world – JESUS. Mary had just been told by the Angel Gabriel – “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1: 31-33), but it was as if she she had already seen and known her son. Truly, the Father and Son are one, as Jesus would later be saying several times.
Mary also learned from the angel that her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant and was on her sixth month. Most probably, it worried Mary that Elizabeth was advanced in age and was on her first pregnancy, so she quickly visited and stayed with her for about three months, maybe, until she had given birth. The comment of Elizabeth, “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” shows Mary’s HUMILITY. Even after having been told that she would be the mother of the Most-High, she didn’t think she had become too important or too high up there, that it didn’t fit her to be of service to Elizabeth. It is no wonder God chose her to be the mother of his Son. Mary was GODLIKE.
Mary, our Mother, teach us your ways!
