Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today marks the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on this last day of the month of May, which we all know is the month of Mary, the Mother of God. As we come to the end of this Marian month, we remember the great faith and role model that Mary has shown us all as the ideal and most amazing saint, as well as being our loving Mother, entrusted to us by the Lord Himself from His Cross. And this day in particular we remember that occasion when Mary was visiting her cousin Elizabeth, and both of them were pregnant at that time, with pregnancies that were both miraculous and wonderful in nature. The visitation of Mary upon Elizabeth and what happened during that event is a powerful reminder for us of God’s constant love for us and His ever powerful providence and help.
In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Zephaniah, we heard of the words of the Lord spoken through Zephaniah in which the Lord reassured all of His people, referred to as the daughters of Zion and Israel, that God would rescue all of them and restore them all once again to greatness, which they had lost because of their past and disobedience. The prophet Zephaniah carried out his ministry and works during the time and reign of King Josiah of Judah, towards the end of the days of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. By that time, the northern kingdom of Israel had been destroyed for about a century, with its people scattered and brought in exile by their conquerors, forced to wander off in distant and foreign lands, away from the lands of their ancestors.
At that time the kingdom of Judah itself was not really in a good shape, surrounded by its many enemies and powerful neighbours, and the end of the kingdom itself was fast approaching, although during the time and reign of the faithful king Josiah, this was not so evident and Judah was experiencing some resurgence during his reign. Nonetheless, it was far cry from the glorious days of the once united and powerful kingdom of the time of King David and King Solomon. Therefore, what the Lord told His people in Judah regarding these promises and reassurances are reminders that God has always loved His people unconditionally, no matter what, and He has always been very patient in reaching out to them and waiting for them to return to Him and to be reconciled to Him.
Even when those same people had erred against Him and frequently disobeyed Him and His Law, the Lord still patiently sent His prophets and messengers, His servants and many others to help lead and guide the people to return to Him, to walk once again in the path that He has taught and shown them. That is truly how much the Lord loved His people, and the other first reading passage today from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans told us all that we should embody this same love, this same unconditional and patient love that God has shown to us His people in how we love one another, with generosity and sincerity. And what St. Paul told the faithful in Rome is essentially what the Lord wants us all, His people to carry out in each and every one of our lives, to be truly good and faithful in all of our deeds and actions, in our every interactions and dealings with one another.
Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard of course the account of the moment of the Visitation itself, when Mary went to visit Elizabeth, her elderly cousin, to find out about what the Archangel Gabriel had told her regarding her miraculous pregnancy, when she herself was also with Child in her, miraculously conceived by the will of the Father and by the power of the Holy Spirit. In both of Mary and Elizabeth therefore were contained the fulfilment of God’s great promises, which He has shown to His faithful, the long-awaited coming of His salvation, brought into this world through the Virgin, and the Herald that had also been promised, to be the one to prepare the path for the Saviour, the Holy One of God.
What happened then was Mary being filled with the Holy Spirit when Elizabeth greeted her as the Mother of her Lord and God, and we heard her song full of praise and thanksgiving to God, which we also know as the Magnificat, a great song of praise by Mary, highlighting her great joy and also summarising the joy that all of us mankind had felt and experienced as the Lord finally fulfilled everything that He has promised to us throughout all of history. And what is most significant and wonderful is the fact that the Lord had done all of these not through grand and mighty gestures or came as a conquering King, but He did so in His own mysterious and wonderful way, in miraculously lifting the shame of barrenness from an elderly woman, and also by fulfilling His promise of bringing forth the salvation through the Virgin.
All these remind us of the great love and kindness which the Lord has constantly shown us, in His patient and ever present love, compassion and kindness towards each and every one of us. He has never abandoned us in our hour and time of great need, but instead, He always fulfils His promises, and gave unto us all the most perfect of all gifts and wonders in His Son, Whom He has sent to be born of Mary, and through Him, and by His mother’s obedience, all of us have received the sure guarantee and assurance of eternal life and grace. And that is why we should truly be thankful and appreciative of everything which we have enjoyed through His love and kindness, and not to take all of these for granted. And we should also be inspired by Mary’s faith, obedience and examples in how we ought to live our lives as well.
May the Blessed Mother of God, Mary, our loving mother, continue to pray and intercede for all of us sinners, and may she continue to inspire us all by her own faith and examples, and by her tireless commitment and dedication to help us all, her beloved children, to bring us all ever closer to her Son, now and always. Mary, Holy Mother of God, pray for us all sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 