Thursday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time (May 31, 2018): Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Thứ Tư, 30-05-2018 | 15:24:56

Today’s Readings:

Zephaniah 3:14-18a or Romans 12:9-16
Isaiah 12:2-3,4b-6
Luke 1:39-56
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/053118.cfm

USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/18_05_31.mp3

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.

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.

Good News Reflection: The guarantee of victory

The reading from Zephaniah can be used in meditation as a personal message from the Lord. It’s encouraging and uplifting and reassuring, not only because it promises victory over our troubles, but also because it says that God himself sings joyfully about you! Imagine that!

Why does God sing? And why so full of joy? Because he gets really excited when we persist through our difficulties and rely on his help to reach the kind of victory that Jesus provides rather than quit early and seek the easy way out, the worldly way that might feel right at the time but which harms our relationships with others and with the God of Love.

When you pray, is Jesus full of joy? Or do you picture him as somber or stern (because a lot of church artwork depicts him this way)? Look up the word “joy” with an online bible search tool. It far outnumbers the times when God is unhappy.

Joy is one of God’s main attributes. It’s one of the fruits of living in the will of God, a blessing from the Holy Spirit. Thus, we can sing with Isaiah in today’s responsorial: “My strength and my courage is the Lord…”. With joy we draw refreshing water from Christ’s fountain of salvation. This is the victory that Jesus provides.

With the Blessed Mother, whose Feast of the Visitation we celebrate today, we can sing her song in the Gospel reading: “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…the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.”

For many years, I have made this “Magnificat” part of my prayer life, like so: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he who is almighty has done great things for me, and IS DOING great things for me, and WILL do great things for me — and through me — and holy is his Name.” This prayer helps me to praise God in difficulties.

No matter how bad things seem, no matter how bleak or disastrous our trials appear to be, God does look with favor upon us, simply because he knows our desire to handle the challenges the Christian way, even though we sin from time to time. “He has mercy on those who fear him. He has shown the strength of his arm … “

Mary knows what it’s like to endure rejection and false accusations, discomfort and danger, and the heart-wrenching ordeal of watching a loved one suffer. Did she sing her Magnificat while hiding in Egypt? Did she remember it while Jesus hung on the cross?

Even if the words were not on her lips, the truth of those verses from 1 Samuel 2:1-8 (the original source of the Magnificat) remained in her heart. She knew the True Source of victory.

Whenever you ask Mary to pray for you, she visits you. She invites you to rediscover the joy of the Lord: Jesus is the True Source of your victory, even during your most painful and frightening moments.

Today’s Prayer:

Beloved Lord, thank You for giving us our Blessed Mother Mary to take us to Your Son Jesus. May we always receive her with joy, because in her Your love dwells. Amen.

Tags: Blessed Virgin Mary, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, Feast, Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Good News Reflection, Holy Gospel according to Luke.