Feast of the Visitation
of Mary: Inspired to visit her elderly cousin
Elizabeth, Mary does so. Both Mary and
Elizabeth recognize the great things God is doing in their lives. Elizabeth greets
her 14-or-15-year-old cousin with: “Most
blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how
does this happen… that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the
moment the sound of your greetings 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.” Mary
responds: “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.”
Neither of these women is
self-centered. Both are focused outside of themselves, one praising Mary and standing
in awe of what the Lord has done for her cousin and the other praising the Lord
and standing in awe of what God has done for her and the implications of that
fact. Both women are affirmative,
positive, humble, and overwhelmed with gratitude. Both respond from a faith
stance. God is the center of both women’s
lives.
Lessons modeled by both
Mary and Elizabeth:
·
The courage to follow the Spirit’s promptings and
going/doing what the Spirit inspires
us to do, without question· Living life from a faith stance—there is always a God-dimension functioning in our lives,
a dimension made known to those who seek God above all else and who look for God
at work in the other and in oneself
· Acknowledging God’s work in the depth of our beings
· Being a blessing in our encounters with others and blessing others in those encounters
· The humility of putting others first and reaching out to meet their need.
To which of those lessons
do I need to give serious attention today?
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