Daily Gospel Reflection

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May 31, 2023

Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Lk 1:39-56
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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

Ann (Bodien) Brahier ’15
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The story of the Visitation has new meaning for me as a young mother as I can better understand the challenge Mary carries with her. God was calling her not only to be a mother but a virgin mother to the child of God! The faith that Mary possessed to feel both “greatly troubled” at the angel’s greeting and yet remain present to God’s call is so powerful.

When I first found out I was pregnant, I was filled with uncertainty, trying to grasp the reality of becoming a mom and that life was growing inside me. Despite the positive test, the ultrasound, and my husband’s reassurance, worries still flooded my mind before any outward sign of pregnancy.

Mary may have been experiencing some of these same feelings, but she continued to trust, as evidenced by the fact that she did not hesitate in her journey to visit Elizabeth; instead, she moved with “haste.”

At the journey’s end, Elizabeth greets Mary and praises her for her strength. This interaction makes me smile to imagine the joy and reassurance Mary must have felt. Reflecting on what it was like to share the news with our families for the first time that we were expecting, I remember the instant feeling of peace upon their embrace and excitement.

God puts these little moments in our life, especially amid struggle, to remind us God is always with us. It gives us strength to trust and inspires us to return the praise to God, just as Mary did in her Magnificat.

God, help us to be humble like Mary, to see the beauty in our calling from God, and to face our struggles with certainty, knowing that God is always with us.

Prayer

Father Andrew Gawrych, C.S.C.

Lord, if we drink the cup each of us is poured and given in life, we know that we, your servants, just like the first disciples, will fare no better than you, our master. But if we shirk the cross in our lives, gone too will be our hope. Strengthen us to be faithful to our vocations that in serving rather than being served, we will find the dying and the rising equally assured. Amen.

Saint of the Day

Feast of the Visitation

When the angel Gabriel declared to Mary that she would bear God’s son, the angel also told her that her cousin, Elizabeth, had conceived as well and was six months pregnant. “Mary set out,” writes Luke in his Gospel, “and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth” (Lk 1:36-56).

Elizabeth exclaimed upon seeing Mary, and her child, John the Baptist, leapt in her womb. The words Elizabeth used when she recognized Mary’s role in our life of faith are remembered in the “Hail Mary” prayer: “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”

Mary’s response to Elizabeth’s praise is captured in what we call the “Magnificat.” This hymn of praise to God is among the oldest hymns in the Church, and it is repeated in prayer every evening in the liturgy of the hours because it proclaims Mary’s faith in God, which is also ours.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age
to those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm,
dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy,
according to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.

The Visitation—this moment of greeting between the two pregnant cousins—is depicted in sculpture outside of the Eck Welcome Center on campus. Smaller versions of this sculpture also stand in chapels in Farley and Walsh Halls.

Relics from both Mary and Elizabeth rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, including a piece of Elizabeth's house and a portion of clothing that Mary wore.

On this feast of the Visitation, let us join Mary and Elizabeth to proclaim the greatness of God!