We celebrated yesterday the Feast of the Visitation. Solely dedicated as the month of Mary, the Mother of God, May came to a conclusion. The final day of the month is the Second Joyful Mystery, the Visitation, wherein Mary, with Jesus in her womb, went to visit her cousin Saint Elizabeth who was pregnant too, with Saint John the Baptist. As Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant in her womb leaped for joy. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth cried out in a loud voice, her words adapted in Hail Mary, “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.” (Luke 1:41-45)
Here are my reflections on The Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth; let us think of the life lessons we may learn from it:
Mary is always a Visitor in your life
Catholics have reserved May to be Mary’s month. This means that May is our sweet honoring for Mary. It is just providential that The Visitation of Mary is always commemorated on May 31st each year! That, in my opinion, is the loving response of Mary to us. As lowly as she always is, she humbly gives back to us her favor, by reminding us through her story of Visitation that she always wants to reach out to us (See previous post: Our Blessed Mother Reaches Out) and to bring Jesus into our lives. More so, in times when we need Mama Mary the most, that’s when she most graciously makes the ‘effort’ to come to us and help us. Just like what she did for her cousin Elizabeth.
As a married couple, Elizabeth, who’s considered “barren,” and her husband Zechariah were already “well advanced in years.” Zechariah could not bring himself to believe the message of the Archangel Gabriel that his wife conceived a child, “for nothing will be impossible for God.” (Luke 1:36-37) Because of his doubt, he was dumb struck and became mute (until the baby was born). Imagine though, how amidst the joy of the coming of their first and only child, there could also be other emotions and situations involved there that Elizabeth and Zechariah were going through. For one, being pregnant at such an old age, Elizabeth surely wasn’t feeling too well and must be suffering in her health. Zechariah, for his part, was fearful and doubtful of such ‘mystery,’ constantly reminded of his weaknesses by his muteness during the entire period of Elizabeth’s gestation. Upon hearing from Archangel Gabriel that Elizabeth was six months pregnant, Mary rushed to the town of Elizabeth for she knew it was a time that her cousin needed her the most. Mary was pregnant herself; carrying the child no other than the Son of God. But why would she travel such a long distance and risk herself and the most important baby in the world… just for her old cousin? That’s because Mary’s heart had so much love for other people, inspired by her unparalleled devotion to God. Even Elizabeth, astonished by Mary’s charitable act, looked so highly of her and exclaimed, “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” But such is the love and humility of Our Blessed Mother, on earth and in heaven. When Mary stood by the foot of the Cross, and “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” “And from that hour the disciple took her into his home,” (John 19:26-27) that’s when Jesus made all of us His own Mother’s spiritual children. Her love for us far exceeds what our family and friends can ever give, because she is the Visitor in your life that always knocks and seeks to fill your life with her maternal care, aid and heavenly graces.
Welcome God and Mary and receive them well
When Mary visited the place “she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth,” (Luke 1:40) and the expectant parents greeted her back warmly. Just like when someone important visits, the host tries his or her best to welcome the visitor with hospitality. I reflect that this tells us that our homes should have a welcoming atmosphere for God and Our Blessed Mother who are always reaching out to our families. A home is indeed welcoming where all the people that live there are in state of grace. When a home has members that are religious, pious, righteous, and prayerful, our Holy Visitors will find a dwelling place in the hearts of each one of them and will remain there always.
As a suggestion, just as we prepare for the visit of our personal guests by cleaning the house, preparing their food, arranging their rooms, or putting out decorations to impress them, let us have in our houses an Altar, Holy Images and Figurines, Sacramentals and a Crucifix, as physical signs of holiness. More importantly, our mind, body and spirit, must also be cleaned of temptations and sins through daily prayer and the Sacrament of Confession. All of this to show our Holy Visitors- the Holy Trinity, and the Saints, especially Mary, that we ardently desire and welcome them to be in our lives, and that our homes, our families, our own selves belong entirely to God.
Be a good Visitor to other people, similar to Mary
Just as people are brought to us by God to send us His love, we are also visitors to other people. Therefore, we must sincerely try our hardest to reflect the love of God in our words and deeds to others. At times, God sends a person to you to meet. Sometimes, it is you who make the effort to meet this person. Whichever the case is, we should be a visitor who brings good will, good news, and goods things to the person we meet. Don’t bring bad will, bad news, and bad things to your loved ones and brethren. There are those who, without much regard for virtues, only disturb the quiet lives of other people with the turmoil they bring to them. We shouldn’t allow that to happen. Mary, with Jesus growing inside her womb, who went along with Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse, brought to her kin all the goodness and benevolence. If we allow Jesus to grow as well in our lives, and receive all the graces we need that God sends us through the Church and the Sacraments, then we, like Mary, will always be able to bring good news and blessings to our family, loved ones, and other people.
Mary didn’t need any help whatsoever from Elizabeth. But Elizabeth certainly needed assistance and a companion during her ‘sensitive pregnancy’ given her age. This just only teaches us that we should not only be a kind and helpful Visitor to our own family and loved ones, but even to those people who are ‘not of much service to us’- including the poor, the sick, the oppressed, and the unloved. Doing acts of charity and love for them might not benefit you in any way, as they can’t ever return the favor to you, given that they are poor and incapable. But God wants us to be a good visitor to them, to bring to them His love, not for what it is we can gain but for His sake. “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40)
I realize that Mary’s kindness to her old cousin Elizabeth also showed how deep her faith to God was. Even Elizabeth was incapable of helping her in return in any way, she wanted to help her because she knew that loving a person in need was loving God Himself. Her help to Elizabeth, by the way, was not limited to physical assistance; Mary brought her physical as well as emotional and spiritual consolations. As such, she did corporal and spiritual works of mercy to Elizabeth.
Corporal Works of Mercy
Kind acts of helping our neighbors with their material and physical needs.
– feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, bury the dead, give alms to the poor
Spiritual Works of Mercy
Kind acts of compassion, helping our neighbors with their emotional and spiritual needs.
– instruct, advise, console, comfort, forgive, bear wrongs patiently
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC 2447)
Even before Jesus gave mankind the New Commandment, Mary clearly was already one in heart with her Son, as she first and foremost became the exemplar of Charity, the most important theological virtue (with faith and hope as next). Jesus defined Charity, or now also called “Love,” as “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” (John 15:12) I personally think that’s how important the role of Mary is in our Church. She is the model of Charity. Surely, she taught her Son Jesus all about charity since His childhood through her own example of love. That’s another proof of why Mary is referred to as “the first disciple of Jesus.” She is her own Son’s teacher and follower.
Like Mary did in haste, act in a timely manner
Mary’s visit, along with Saint Joseph, her pure husband, to her cousin Elizabeth was described in the Scripture as “During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah,” (Luke 1:39). This simply says that Mary was in a hurry to go to her.
Apparently, Mary went out of her way for her relative, even with the risk and effort, for she knew that’s the godly thing to do. The voice of the Holy Spirit deep inside told her that her cousin needed help. I believe it is worth noting that she didn’t waste any more time with long discernments or doing many self-talks and monologues about which decision to make- to go to Elizabeth or not, or spent hours or days in weighing the pros and cons of visiting her. What she did was give in to the voice of the Holy Spirit directing her to do the act of kindness to her neighbor-in-need and what is pleasing in the eyes of God.
Life requires us to make some big decisions at times. Decision-making should always be made with prudence and carefulness. But you should not fall into trap, on the borderline, of indecisiveness, or procrastinating making those decisions. There are some people who ‘discern’ for too long, almost as if they’re overthinking and rationalizing too much, that they miss the holiness of it. When that happens, instead of arriving at the right choice, the noises and emotions in their minds build up, drowning out God’s true inspiration, and causing them to make mistakes, sometimes big ones that harm their own lives and other people’s. Be wise during those temptations. Life can happen to force you to decide in haste; that if you don’t decide right away, the situation or opportunity can be missed and even turn out really bad for you. Quick decisions on important life matters sometimes just fall on your doorstep, and so you need to learn how to decide with wisdom and prudence, but in a very timely manner. A deep and consistent prayer life to God and the Saints, especially to Mary for her intercession, are necessary to be able to have the guidance and light during hasty important decisions.
Many people say, “Time can heal all wounds.” Time is almost used as an excuse for either indecisiveness or wrongful decision. A person might be tempted to use ‘time’ to escape his or her delayed and confused actions or missed responsibilities. He or she may resist making a righteous action now since time will allow for him or her to rectify it later. Why use time in the negative context? Mary, on the other hand, used time positively, in service of the Lord and of His people. She was in haste to aid Elizabeth. In the similar way, she was in haste to help the newlywed couple in Cana.
When people do not value time, as they ought, then what regrets would people have in the end, once they realize the ‘should have, would have, could have?’ Is it an opportunity you let slip away? A chance to do someone good you never took? Loving words that you should have said? Thankfulness you never showed? Letters or messages you never sent? Pardon for someone that you never gave? Or perhaps, forgiveness you never asked from a person? Relationship that should have been fixed? Care and affection never showed? Trials you handled without forbearance? Call of God you did not respond to? Good things that you have given up on? (See previous post: Leaving the Good) People tend to postpone things- good things, for tomorrow because they are indecisive, still unsure, or lacking the courage to do what is rightful and just. Some don’t do things in haste because they think life is still long for them. But for many, just when they think they have all the time to change later and correct all things someday, that’s when God cuts it short.
Just a thing I’d like to share when there’s a need for fast decision-making: I notice that in the writings of the Saints, they say that they discern and make decisions based on following God’s will by always choosing among options the one which shows the most act of Charity, love, and kindness. Meaning, they choose the kindest thing to do. Could the Blessed Mother have shown that she absolutely cared about Elizabeth but never visited her? Likewise, could you say that you truly care for someone’s peace and well being but turned your back on her? Of the many things you can choose from to handle a situation, the best one would be the act that expresses genuine peace, respect, and love. For such is the voice of the Holy Spirit. It only speaks of love, kindness, compassion, understanding, and peace. Such was the voice that Mary heard, humbly nodded to, and hastily followed.
The Feast of the Visitation is a loving invitation to us of Our Blessed Mother to imitate her in words and deeds. Mary, with Saint Joseph, through her visit, even it’s just for a brief moment, touched and changed the whole lives of Saint Elizabeth, Saint Zechariah, and Saint John the Baptist, with God’s graces. We might either be a short-term or long-term visitor in a person’s life. How do you want to be remembered by that person? Let us touch another person’s life with the love that’s in accordance to the will of God; not the type that is arrogant, selfish or proud. May we welcome the people who come to us, who visit us in good faith, with much affection and care; and let us come to other people’s lives, as visitors, as instruments of the love, kindness and peace of the Lord Our God and Our Lady.
I was so happy with my family yesterday when we were able to arrive on time at our Parish for the 6 pm Mass, despite the traffic and everything. Our family’s most favorite Parish is in Quezon City. Well, I made it sure to be there in my beloved Parish, because I did want to make it my form of celebration for the Visitation. And why I just had to celebrate it? That’s because the Gospel was the Magnificat, or called “The Canticle of Mary,” which is one of my most favorite prayers ever, which I literally pray everyday, and know by heart, showing my love for Our Blessed Mother. (See previous post: Magnificat)
Magnificat
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.
Luke 1:46-55
St. Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us!
St. Elizabeth, pray for us!
St. Zechariah, pray for us!
St. John the Baptist, pray for us!
Jesus, have mercy on us!
St. Joseph, pray for us!
Mama Mary, pray for us!
Amen.
She graduated cum laude from the University of Santo Tomas, the country's Pontifical and Catholic university, with an AB in Legal Management and minor units in Theology.
As an unmarried woman, prayer holds a central place in her daily life, with a focus on the Rosary and the Divine Office. Embodying her faith, she emphasizes the growth of her inner spiritual life, guided by the wisdom of Carmelite spirituality.
God manifested to her in a unique and radical manner, which made her know Who He truly is and led her to total surrender of her life to Him.
She has studied the Bible with her family, developing a particular fondness for the Old Testament.
Her adorable and intelligent toy poodle is a delightful companion in her daily life, bringing warmth and joy to her home.
Her hobbies include reading about everything, learning Japanese and German, listening to music and playing the flute.
In her leisure time, she enjoys gaming on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo 3DS, iOS and OS, and collecting things related to PlayStation and Nintendo.
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