May 31, 2025
Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Lectionary: 572
Reading I
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing
joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter
Jerusalem!
The LORD has removed the judgment against you,
he has
turned away your enemies;
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,
you have no
further misfortune to fear.
On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Fear not, O
Zion, be not discouraged!
The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a mighty
savior;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew
you in his love,
He will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings
at festivals.
Or
Romans 12:9-16
Brothers and sisters:
Let love be sincere;
hate what is evil,
hold on to what is good;
love one another with mutual affection;
anticipate one another in showing honor.
Do not grow slack in zeal,
be fervent in spirit,
serve the Lord.
Rejoice in hope,
endure in affliction,
persevere in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the holy ones,
exercise hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you,
bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice,
weep with those who weep.
Have the same regard for one another;
do not be haughty but associate with the lowly;
do not be wise in your own estimation.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (6) Among
you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
God indeed is my savior;
I am
confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has
been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the
fountain of salvation.
R. Among you is the great and
Holy One of Israel.
Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the
nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how
exalted is his name.
R. Among you is the great and
Holy One of Israel.
Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;
let this be
known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in
your midst
is the Holy
One of Israel!
R. Among you is the great and
Holy One of Israel.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, O Virgin Mary, who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/053125.cfm
Commentary on
Zephaniah 3:14-18 or Romans 12:9-16; Luke 1:39-56
Today’s feast commemorates the visit that Mary, already
pregnant with Jesus, made to her older cousin, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with
the future John the Baptist. This story is within the Infancy Narrative of
Luke’s Gospel, immediately after the account of the Annunciation, when Mary was
asked by the angel to become the mother of Jesus. She had given her
unconditional assent to the request, even though at first she found it
difficult to understand because, although she was already committed in marriage
to Joseph, they had not begun to live together. Nevertheless, after the
assurance of the angel, she put herself totally in God’s hands:
Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me
according to your word. (Luke 1:38)
It is shortly after this that Mary travels south from
Galilee to a town in Judah (the province where Jerusalem was located). We are
told that she went “in haste” as if keen to congratulate her cousin, who
strictly speaking was well beyond the age to have a child. She entered the
house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. Immediately, the child in Elizabeth’s
womb leapt in joyful welcome. It is not Mary who makes the child do this, but
rather the Child that Mary is carrying.
Elizabeth, inspired by the Spirit, then cries out:
Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of
your womb.
And then she asks in surprise,
And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my
Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child
in my womb leaped for joy.
For there is a surprise here. If anyone should be making the
visit, it really should be Elizabeth to the Mother of the Son of God. But no,
it is Mary with Jesus who visits. It is an anticipation of something that Jesus
will tell his disciples later on:
…the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve…
(Mark 10:45)
It is part of his kenosis, the self-emptying of
Jesus as part of his mission to communicate God’s love to us.
Elizabeth then goes on with words of praise for Mary
herself:
And blessed is she who believed that there would be a
fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.
It is the faith of Mary in God’s word that she praises.
Although not having had intimate relations with any man, her trust in the words
of the angel has been vindicated—and she is carrying the Child.
It is then that Mary, in response to Elizabeth’s words,
speaks her hymn of praise and thanksgiving to God, a hymn we know as the Magnificat,
from its first word in the Latin version. It is a hymn which has many
resemblances to the hymn that Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, sings
after she, although past child-bearing age, gives birth to her son (1 Sam
2:1-10).
First of all, Mary thanks God for taking notice of her in
her lowliness. She was a simple girl living in a small town, someone of no
consequence in the eyes of the world. Yet, as she rightly foresees, all ages
will call her blessed because God has done such great things for her—called her
to be the earthly mother of God’s own Son, and the instrument by which he would
come to share our human nature. And she has words for all those who submit
themselves in loving obedience to God: His mercy is from age to age to those
who fear him.
In contrast, it is those who think they are powerful and
strong, those who are arrogant in mind and heart, who meet their downfall,
while those who accept their lowliness before God are lifted up:
…he has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
The ‘hungry’ are those who are aware that they themselves
have nothing and that all is a gift from God. The rich are those who think they
have it all when in truth, they have nothing that lasts. It is a teaching that
will go right through the Gospel.
Mary, of course, lived out this prayer all during her life
as she supported and stood by her Son to the very end. It seemed to end in
disaster at the foot of the Cross, but that was not the end. New life, a life
that no one can take away, was to come.
There is a choice of two First Readings. The first is from
the prophet Zephaniah and reflects the joy of the Visitation, the joy of the
two cousins with their children as they greet each other:
Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
For indeed the birth of these two children is a cause of joy
for all God’s people:
The Lord, your God, is in your midst…he will rejoice over
you with gladness; he will renew you in his love…
Yes, their Saviour is already in their midst but they do not
know it yet. They will have to wait another 30 years until Jesus appears on the
scene and brings the Good News of his Father. But the beginnings of the story
are already here in today’s celebration.
The alternate First Reading suggested for today is from St
Paul’s Letter to the Romans. It consists really of instructions on the spirit
in which we should live our lives. It summarises, in part, the teaching that
Jesus will later communicate to his disciples and all those who make him their
Lord. Later, Jesus in his manhood will communicate these lessons not just by
his words, but by the way he lives and relates to all those he encounters:
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what
is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing
honor.
This is just what we see taking place between Mary and
Elizabeth as they meet together. It is the way in which we, too, should behave
in dealing with all the people who come into our lives.
Further on, Paul says:
Contribute to the needs of the saints [the hagioi,
members of the Christian community]; pursue hospitality…Bless those who
persecute you…Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in
harmony with one another; do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly; do
not claim to be wiser than you are.
Clearly this is a challenging programme! But we know that it
is the only way to go. Let us, then, today truly give our welcome to Jesus and
do that by our every word and action.
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Saturday,
May 31, 2025
The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Opening Prayer
Lord our God, loving Father, Mary
went with haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth in her hour of need.
May we too rejoice in the Lord
when we can hurry to see people to bring them the Lord as we share in their
needs and their joys.
With Mary, may we become a blessing to them. We ask
this through Christ our Lord.
Gospel Reading - Luke 1: 39-56
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.
Reflection
Today is the Feast of the Visitation of the
Virgin, and the Gospel narrates the visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. When
Luke speaks of Mary, he thinks of the communities of his time which lived
dispersed throughout the cities of the Roman Empire and offers them Mary as a
model of how they should relate to the Word of God. Once, while hearing Jesus
speak about God, a woman in the crowd exclaimed: “Blessed is the womb that bore
You and the breasts that fed You”, praising the mother of Jesus. Immediately
Jesus answered: “More blessed still are those who hear the word of God and keep
it!” (Lk 11: 27-28). Mary is the model of the faithful community which knows
how to live and practice the Word of God. In describing the visit of Mary to
Elizabeth, he teaches how the communities should act in order to transform the
visit of God into service to the brother and sisters.
The
episode of the visit of Mary to Elizabeth also shows another typical aspect of
Luke. All the words and attitudes, especially the Canticle of Mary, form a
great celebration of praise. It seems to be a description of a solemn liturgy.
Thus, Luke evokes the liturgical and celebrative environment in which Jesus was
formed and in which the communities should live their own faith.
•
Luke 1: 39-40 – Mary goes to visit her cousin
Elizabeth. Luke stresses the haste with which Mary responds to the demands of
the Word of God. The Angel spoke to her about the pregnancy of Elizabeth, and
Mary immediately rises in response to what the Angel had announced. She goes
out of the house to help a person in need. The distance from Nazareth to the
mountain of Judah was about 100 kilometers, and there were no buses or trains!
•
Luke 1: 41-44 – The greeting of Elizabeth.
Elizabeth represents the Old Testament which ends. Mary, the new one which is
beginning. The Old Testament welcomes, accepts the new one with gratitude and
trust, recognizing in it the gratuitous gift of God which comes to complete
whatever expectation the people had. In the encounter of the two women, the
gift of the Spirit is manifested, which makes the child jump with joy in
Elizabeth’s womb. The Good News of God reveals His presence in one of the most
common things of human life: two housewives who exchange a visit to help one
another. A visit, joy, pregnancy, children, reciprocal help, house, family:
Luke wants to make the communities (and all of us) understand and discover the
presence of the Kingdom. The words of Elizabeth, up until now, form part of the
best known and most recited Psalm in the world, which is the Hail Mary.
•
Luke 1: 45 – The praise which Elizabeth makes of
Mary. “Blessed is she who believed that the promise made by the Lord would be
fulfilled.” This is Luke’s advice to the communities: to believe in the Word of
God, because it has the force to realize what it says. It is a creative Word.
It generates a new life in the womb of a virgin, in the womb of the poor and
abandoned people who accept it with faith.
•
Luke 1: 46-56 – The canticle of Mary. Most
likely, this canticle was already known and sung in the communities. It teaches
how it should be prayed and sung.
•
Luke 1: 46-56: Mary begins proclaiming the
change which has come about in her life under the loving look of God, full of
mercy. This is why she sings joyfully: “My spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.”
Luke 1: 51-53: she sings the fidelity of God toward His people and proclaims
the change which the arm of Yahweh is bringing about on behalf of the poor and
the hungry. The expression “arm of God” recalls the liberation of the Exodus.
It is this saving force of God which gives life to the change: He has routed
the arrogant of heart (1: 51), He has pulled down princes from their thrones
and raised high the lowly (1: 52), He has sent the rich away empty, and has
filled the starving with good things (1: 53). Luke 1: 54-55: at the end, she
recalls that all this is the expression of God’s mercy toward His people and an
expression of His fidelity to the promises made to Abraham. The Good News is
not a response to the observance of the Law, but the expression of the goodness
and the fidelity of God to the promises made. That is what Paul taught in the
letters to the Galatians and to the Romans.
•
The second Book of Samuel tells the story of the
Ark of the Covenant. David wants to put it in his own house, but he is
frightened and says: “How can the Ark of Yahweh come to be with me?” (2 S 6:
9). Then David ordered that the Ark be placed in the house of Obed-Edom. And
the Ark of Yahweh remained three months in the house of Obed-Edom, and the Lord
blessed Obed-Edom and his whole family” (2 S 6: 11). Mary, waiting for Jesus,
is like the Ark of the Covenant which, in the Old Testament, visited the houses
of the persons granting benefits. She goes to Elizabeth’s house and remained
there three months. And while she is in Elizabeth’s house, the whole family is
blessed by God. The community should be like a new Ark of the Covenant.
Visiting the homes of others, it should take benefits and the grace of God to
the people.
Personal Questions
•
What prevents us from discovering and living the
joy of God’s presence in our life?
•
Where and how does the joy of the presence of
God take place today in my life and in that of my family or community?
Concluding Prayer
Bless Yahweh, my soul, from
the depths of my being, His holy name; bless Yahweh, my soul, never forget all
His acts of kindness. (Ps 103: 1-2)
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