“Mary set out”
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is the story of the Visitation, when Mary went out to see her cousin Elizabeth and upon her greeting begins her mission of bringing Christ to the world.
How far is Judah? We hear in the Gospel reading that Mary makes haste to her cousin Elizabeth in the hill country of Judah, a journey that would take her four or five days from Nazareth.
Why does Mary leave so quickly? “The Blessed Virgin, having learned from the angel about Elizabeth’s pregnancy, moved by charity, hurries to lend a hand with her household chores. Nobody obliges her to go: God, through the angel, hadn’t asked her to do so, nor had Elizabeth looked for help either. Mary could have remained at home to get on with preparing for the arrival of her Son, the Messiah; but she joyfully sets out on the journey ‘with haste’ and goes to offer Elizabeth her homely assistance.”[i] “…because of her faith and obedience, she hurriedly leaves, immediately after the angel’s annunciation, to visit her cousin Elizabeth and offer her help as ‘handmaid’ of men as well as of God. The great service of Mary to mankind is therefore to bring Christ to man just as she brought him to Elizabeth.”[ii]
The Annunciation, in which Mary accepts God’s Will, led to the Visitation, in which Mary lives out God’s will. Mary’s faith led to a charitable work, just as our own faith should lead to good works, beginning with our own families. . When Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize, she was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?" She answered, "Go home and love your family." Our Blessed Mother went with haste to help her family. Our family needs us; we must make haste to help them. Why is it sometimes easier to help others rather than our family?
Why is Elizabeth filled with the Holy Spirit? It is because of Mary’s Visitation. Mary brings God into her home and upon her greeting fills the whole room with the Holy Spirit. “Through the Virgin-Mother, the Savior visits the house of Zachary in very fact, and fills it with the Holy Spirit, so that Elizabeth discovers the mystery being accomplished in Mary, and John rejoices in his mother’s womb. All this takes place because the Blessed Mother believed God’s word, and, believing, offered herself to the divine will.”[iii] “That house was transformed by the presence of Jesus and Mary. Her greeting was efficacious: it filled Elizabeth with the Holy Spirit. With her tongue, through her prophetic utterance, she caused a river of divine gifts to spring up in her cousin as from a fountain… In effect, wherever she who is ‘full of grace’ goes, everything is filled to overflowing with joy.”[iv]
How is Mary “blessed among women”? “Mary is ‘blessed among women’ because she believed in the fulfillment of the Lord’s word. Abraham, because of his faith, became a blessing for al the nations of the earth. Mary, because of her faith, became the mother of believers, through whom all nations of the earth receive him who is God’s own blessing: Jesus, the ‘fruit of thy womb.’”[v]
Search: Blessed Among Women
What does the Visitation reveal to us? First, it reveals the interior life of Mary: one of humble service and selfless love for whoever needs her.[vi] In Mary’s Visitation, we also see the humanity of the unborn baby Jesus; “She is not alone: the Word made flesh is with her, and with her literally crosses the mountains and hills to meet his creatures whom he has come to save. So Mary begins her mission of bringing Christ to the world. She carries him in silence, but God living in her reveals himself…Mary teaches all who believe, and especially the apostles, that we bring Christ to our brothers not so much by word, as by a life of union with him, making room for him and letting him grow in our own hearts.”[vii]
Mary is not only an example of humble service and selfless love, but also an example of prayer. “Because she gives us Jesus, her son, Mary is Mother of God and our mother; we can entrust all our cares and petitions to her: she prays for us as she prayed for herself: ‘Let it be to me according to your word.’ By entrusting ourselves to her prayer, we abandon ourselves to the will of God together with her: ‘Thy will be done.’”[viii] This part of the Lord’s Prayer is at times difficult to accept, but we are never alone in this prayer—Mary is with us. We must pray for the grace to live our prayer “Thy will be done” out in our life, just as Mary was “full of Grace”.
How do we apply the Visitation to our lives? When we pray and contemplate upon the Second Joyful Mystery, God “invites us to give ourselves promptly, happily and unpretentiously to the people around us. Very often the best service we can offer is simply to share with them the happiness that overflows from our hearts. But we can only do this if we stay very close to Our Lord through the faithful fulfillment of the moments of prayer we have throughout the day.”[ix] Do we ‘bring’ Christ (joy) with us wherever we go, be it to work, or when visiting friends or someone who is sick? Does our presence habitually cause people to be cheered up?
[i] Fernandez, In Conversation with God 6, 37.1
[ii] Divine Intimacy pg. 78
[iii] Divine Intimacy pg. 78
[iv] Pseudo-Gregory the Wonderworker, Homily II on the Aunnunciation
[v] CCC 2676
[vi] cf. John Paul II, Homily, 31 May 1979
[vii] Divine Intimacy pgs. 83-84
[viii] Catechism of the Catholic Church - 2677
[ix] Fernandez, In Conversation with God 6, 37.1