Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was created in the Franciscan order on the inspiration of St. Bonaventure in 1263 and the date was set on July 2, the day after the end of the octave of the Nativity of St. John (June 24). Pope Boniface IX ordered that the whole Catholic Church be celebrated from 1389 in order to obtain, through Mary's intercession, unity in the Church of Christ after the great schism in the West. After the so-called period of the Avignon captivity (1309-1377) there was a period lasting from 1378 to 1417, when the lack of consent of the cardinals meant that two or even three popes claimed the title of head of the Catholic Church at the same time. The Council of Basel confirmed and officially established the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1441.
“Be glad and exult with all your heart, daughter Jerusalem!” (cf. Zeph 3:14). After the sin of disobedience of the "first woman", God announces, at the dawn of the gigantic and mysterious catastrophe of human iniquity, the First Good News about the salvation of a sinful man (Protevangelium). The offspring of the Second Woman will "crush the head of Satan" - the main perpetrator of sin (Gen 3:15). Old Testament prophets foretold the coming of the Virgin - the Mother who would give birth to the Messiah. God, the Creator of goodness itself, has not abandoned man, created in his image and likeness. God who chose Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will not abandon his chosen and beloved people. Despite Israel's deviation and infidelity to numerous covenants, God visits His people. The prophets, foretelling the coming of the Messiah - Savior "born of the Virgin", were visible signs and witnesses of God's visitations among his people. “Do not fear, Zion, do not be discouraged! The LORD, your God, is in your midst “(cf. Zeph 3:16-17)
“God indeed is my salvation; I am confident and unafraid’ (Is 12:2). Faith is a great and undeserved gift of God himself. Whoever has this gift enters a completely different and new dimension of existence. Individual stages of life, social or political events acquire their proper dimension and purpose. Only God directs the fate of man and the world. Only God can save man. Nevertheless, the history of man's salvation cannot be accomplished without human participation. The right response to the invitation to share in the salvation of man are the words of Mary of Nazareth: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to Your Word" (cf. Lk 1:38). Blessed are you, Virgin Mary, who believed that the words spoken to you from the Lord would come true. Courageous, great and responsible "yes" to God in Mary's life is simultaneously, courageous and small "yes" to man. The mere mention of a person in need ["behold, your cousin Elizabeth is already in the sixth month" (cf. Lk 1:36)] becomes for Mary the goal and way of realizing "God's yes". She, visited by God and filled with God, as the New Ark of the Covenant and the Living Tabernacle, walks with joy and haste towards man who needs God and man.
The Mystery of the Visitation reveals not only the Mystery of Faith of Mary ["Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb" (cf. Lk 1:42), " Blessed are you who believed* that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled" (cf. Lk 1:45) and Elizabeth ["And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (cf. Lk 1:43)], but also the Mystery of the Church's Faith expressed in the invocations rich in content - the titles of Mary from the Litany of Loreto (Holy Mother of God, Mother of the Savior, Mother of the Church, Queen conceived without original sin, Queen assumed into heaven), which we confessed and invoked throughout the month of May. The mystery of the Visitation also reveals the basic truth about knowing God and man. Saints who seek only God, truth, good or justice recognize God very quickly. The saints also quickly recognize the saints ["The Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth" (cf. Lk 1:41), " And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord* should come to me" (Luke 1:43)]. The mystery of the Visitation and Meeting of God always enriches man ["The Mighty One has done great things for me" (Lk 1:49)]. Man enriched by God, worships and rejoices in God his Savior. The joy of meeting God cannot be hidden in the privacy of the heart or family home. The joy of meeting God commands to open all doors and borders and, in a way, forces new ways of meeting. The courage and joy of faith ("going out with God" - the Mystery of the Visitation) and meeting people in various Areopagus of the world of culture, religion, science or socio - politics is identified with the great work of evangelization.
Faith comes from hearing and receiving the Word of God. Humble listening, accepting and obeying the Word of God, taught by Mary in the Mystery of the Annunciation, shows us new paths for those who have entrusted themselves completely to God. The mystery of the Visitation and the Meeting of God with man and man with man is always fulfilled in the Mystery of the Nativity. Mary and Saint John Paul II the Great teach us that man is the way of God and the Church, and Jesus Christ is the way of man. Let's have a good look around us. There are so many people who are lonely, sick and thirsty for love. The eyes of faith, the example of Mary - Mother of Trust and Visitation will allow us to open the doors of our homes to every thirsty pilgrim or to go with haste and joy to meet the one who has been waiting for us for so many years for a word of apology, respect and forgiveness.
It is true that we are not always obligated to accept anyone who knocks to our door. It would be stupid and dangerous. However, the first reaction that should arise in our heart should be a blessing, which comes from the conviction that it is God who allows such an encounter.
Pope Francis, in the latest encyclical “Fratelli tutti” on social fraternity, points out: "The arrival of those who are different, coming from other ways of life and cultures, can be a gift, for “the stories of migrants are always stories of an encounter between individuals and between cultures. For the communities and societies to which they come, migrants bring an opportunity for enrichment and the integral human development of all” (Fratelli tutti, 133). May the words of Pope Francis encourage us to courageously welcome those whom God places on our way of life. At the same time, let us not be afraid to take up new challenges that the Holy Spirit proposes to us through the various circumstances of our lives. This lifestyle characterized Mary and Elizabeth. Pope Francis encourages us to adopt this lifestyle. In the encyclical Fratelli tutti he says that like Mary, the Mother of Jesus, "we want to be a Church that serves, that leaves home and goes forth from its places of worship, goes forth from its sacristies, in order to accompany life, to sustain hope, to be the sign of unity… to build bridges, to break down walls, to sow seeds of reconciliation"(Fratelli tutti, 276). Let it be so in our lives.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george