Homily for the Feast of the Visitation
May 31, 2023
Luke 1: 39-56
Salesian Missions, New Rochelle, N.Y.
“How
does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:
43).
The Archangel Gabriel has just come to Mary and asked her to cooperate with God’s plan to send a Savior for the human race. She agreed and conceived Jesus. The angel also told Mary of her relative Elizabeth’s miraculous pregnancy; for she was well beyond the age of childbearing.
At once Mary has left Nazareth and made
a long journey into Judea to keep company with her elder kinswoman—her cousin,
her aunt, the exact relationship isn’t specified (1:36). Instead of focusing on her own unique
situation, Mary goes to be with another woman in need.
Elizabeth—and the unborn child in her
womb, now 6 months along—are granted a revelation by which they recognize the
presence of the Son of God within Mary when she arrives. The mother of the Lord has come to
Elizabeth. And she remains “with her
about three months” (1:56), Luke writes.
We understand this to mean until Elizabeth gives birth to John the
Baptist.
The mother of the Lord has come, and
she remains to assist. The mother of the
Lord attends to someone in need. This is
what Mary does. This is why we invoke her
as the Help of Christians.
The mother of the Lord comes to each of
us and stays with us. She believed God’s
word (1:45) and helps us to know God’s word—her Son, the Word made flesh, and
the word that God speaks to us in the events of our lives.
Elizabeth recognizes Mary’s blessedness
(1:45). Mary wants to help each of us to
carry Christ in our hearts by faith and to carry him to others by our
actions. By our faith and the actions
that our faith inspires, we too will be blessed. Like Mary, we are called to magnify the
Lord’s greatness (Collect), the wonderful things he does for us, including giving
us a mother in heaven.
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