Daily Gospel Reflection
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September 12, 2025
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.”
Reflection
At the moment Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, her baby leaped, and she cried out Mary’s praises with joy. This exuberant love reminds me of students joyfully reuniting in South Dining Hall after breaks—these cousins have something to teach us about the spirit we might bring to our daily encounters.
I have no doubt that my mother, Mary, encounters all of her sons and daughters with the same excitement and love expressed between these two women in the gospel. The love they share does not remain between the two; rather, it extends to the children they bear and inspires each of them to burst out in praise of the name of God.
Every time I get the opportunity to walk to my office or go on a run or play hacky sack with my friends on campus, I, too, am greeted by the most beautiful Mother of God on the dome. She seeks to encounter all of her children daily, and her intercession connects us with God. Despite this reality, I often find myself distracted by the busy nature of my life and my own to-do list. I struggle to be present to the people around me who also have the gift of carrying the presence of God within them.
I think we can benefit from the reminder that God is at the center of all that we do. He is the breath of our lives. Mary understood this in a unique way and can teach us what it means to have Christ at the core of our lives.
May we all, each day, live like Mary and spread the joy of encounter with the Divine. May we lead with love and approach our friendships, families, work, and play with a particular reverence and excitement for the gifts God continually bestows upon us. Let us call upon Mary, whose name we venerate today, to inspire our joy.
Prayer
Christ our Teacher, you invite us to give our whole selves to you, not holding any part back. Give us the grace to remove anything in our lives that holds us back from giving ourselves to you in trust and love. Help us overcome the obstacles to grace that exist within and around us, that we might be wholly one with you. And help us to support and encourage others as they seek to follow you more fully. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Today marks the feast of the Holy Name of Mary, a Marian feast day that has experienced several reversals in popularity. The feast of the Holy Name of Mary was first celebrated in Spain in 1513 but removed from the calendar by both Pius V and Benedict XIV. It was finally reintroduced by Innocent XI in 1683 after the Holy Roman Empire’s victory in the Battle of Vienna on September 12, 1683, which gives the current feast day its calendar date.
So what does Mary’s name mean, and why is it worth honoring?
The name “Mary” is the anglicized version of the Hebrew name Miryam, often written in biblical Greek as Mariam. Miryam is the name of Moses’ sister who praises God’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt and their safe passage through the Red Sea (Exodus 15:20-21), a psalm similar to Mary’s powerful hymn to God’s saving power in her Magnificat (Lk 1:46-55). As Jesus is rendered in the Gospels as the new Moses (Mt 2:13-15, 7:29, JN 6: 48-51), so Mary is portrayed as the new Miryam, the helpmate of Israel’s savior and a leader of her people. Interpretations of her name by biblical scholars and theologians vary widely—some notable examples include Source of Light, Scent of the Sea, and Star of the Sea. Developed in the 16th century in the Italian town of Loreto, the Litany of Loreto catalogs many devotional titles Catholics have applied to Mary, celebrating both her unique role in Salvation History and the beauty of her love for God, from which so many graces flow to us.
Names have a sacred status in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The second of the Ten Commandments requires Israel to keep holy the name of the Lord God. A name is more than just a label; it is part of the person who bears it. Our reverence for the person is reflected in our reverence for his or her name. Our names contain our identities and represent our mission—who and what we are to the world. Mary’s name holds the meaning of her own mission: to lead the world to the light of the world. Mary’s name given in the scriptures reminds us of God’s works of love and deliverance in history and speaks powerfully of who God desires her to be for us.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux writes that Mary is a “clear and shining star, twinkling with excellencies and resplendent with example, needfully set to look down upon the surface of this great and wide sea.” In life, we are constantly “battered to and fro by the gales and storms of this life’s ocean.” In the midst of life’s hurricanes and stormy waves, Bernard enjoins us to “look to the star, call on Mary. ...If she lead thee, thou wilt never be weary. If she help thee thou wilt reach home at last.”
As we pray to and with the name of Mary, as we call to mind her name, may we remember that we are not on the journey of faith alone. And when the storms are particularly troublesome and the night is especially dark, may we look to the Mary, the star that perpetually shines and ceaselessly guides us to the source of her light, her son.
Mary, Star of the Sea and light who guides our way to Christ—pray for us!