Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Zephaniah 3: 14-18a Luke 1: 39-56
Theme: Selfless love
Today the church celebrates the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In today’s celebration, we see the wonderful attributes of the blessed virgin Mary. She had just received the message from the Angel and got a wonderful message for her cousin Elizabeth. Interestingly, she forgot about the message she received from the Angel about herself and decided to visit her cousin Elizabeth to share in her joy. Ordinarily one would have expected that she would be occupied with the message given to her by the Angel for herself, because of the information. It is a message that is very difficult to accept and comprehend, according to human understanding. The first thing is for God to find her worthy to be the mother of Jesus Christ his son. The second one is the fact that she is going to conceive the child through the power of the Holy Spirt, something that has never happened. All these put together is enough for her to be worried about what awaits her, because she has already accepted by saying ‘Yes’ to the Angels message. She kept all this aside and decided to travel a long distance to give her cousin the good news about her conception and to celebrate with her. Her action is love at its best and what it truly means to be selfless in our dealings with one another.
This is a great challenge to all of us who are Christians in our own time. Selflessness and love for one another will go a long way towards making our lives, families and the world at large a better place for all of us. Our mother Mary has given us the way to go, it is now left for us to make effort to practice it in our daily lives. In our world today, we see how human actions seem to emphasize greed, self-centeredness and hate, more than love and selflessness. That is why today’s celebration is saying something to all of us as children of God. If we all resolve today to begin to practice a life of love and selflessness, we will make a lot of impact in the ‘world’ around us, and it will continue to grow and touch so many other people. The question today is, are we ready to make honest and sincere effort to practice it in our daily lives? If the answer is yes, then let it begin with you and the grace and love of God will continue to strengthen all your effort.
In the 1st reading of today from the prophet Zephaniah, we see how he strengthens the faith of the Israelites and gives them hope, by saying that the blessings of God will abound in their lives because God has not forgotten them, and they mean a lot to him. So, no matter what they were going through at the time, God is not done with them, and it is only a phase in their lives that will come to an end to the glory of God. This is the same message that the Lord is giving to us today, be strong and not weary, because your present situation is a passing phase in your life. As you do this, may almighty God bless you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, Amen. Peace be with you.