Be an Inspiration (Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, May 31, 2021)

-

There's an old expression that is never trite in usage; a group of words that may appear to be hackneyed but never timeworn; very inspiring and always expressive of complete meaning and sense. In a very beautifully crafted King James English, that expression reads: IRON SHARPENETH IRON. This is what we celebrate today. We call to mind the meeting of two women: an ordinary event which turned out to be an extraordinary flow of events. An ordinary visitation which paved way for a SPECIAL VISITATION OF GOD.

 

Mary didn't just arise to visit Elizabeth. She visited for a purpose. When you take a quick look at the preceding section of today's gospel reading, it is said that the angel of the Lord informed Mary of the pregnancy of her old relative Elizabeth (cf. Luk 1:36) in order to prove to her that there's nothing impossible for God. After some time, Mary set out to visit Elizabeth: probably not to confirm whether the message of the angel was true or not, for she had already accepted God's message as true by her great fiat (cf. Luk 1:38).


And so, the authenticity of the message of the angel would not have had any serious influence on the great expression of faith that Mary had already made in her fiat (her "yes" to God). Some persons may say that she went to offer some help to her relative. Some may still insist that she went to confirm the message of the angel that she received, while some others may offer other explanations as reasons for her visit. 

 

On the basis of the evidence of the scriptures, I am fully convinced that Mary not only went to help Elizabeth, she also went to behold this GREAT THING that God has done in the life of Elizabeth and then, reinforce her faith and confidence in GOD WITH WHOM NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE (cf. Luk 1:37). Little did she know that she was going to communicate grace, peace and joy; and thus, strengthen the faith of Elizabeth. It should then not be surprising for us to read that Elizabeth exclaimed that BLESSED IS SHE WHO BELIEVES THAT THERE WOULD BE A FULFILMENT OF WHAT WAS SPOKEN TO HER FROM THE LORD (Luk. 1:45).

 

The story of the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth strikes a special note of difference. These are women whose conditions and circumstances in life defied all logic and human understanding. Elizabeth conceived when it was naturally impossible for her to conceive. Mary conceived through an unnatural means (without knowing a man).


By the miraculous intervention of God in Elizabeth, Mary must have grown stronger in her conviction that "TRULY WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE" (Luk. 1:37). Inspired by the special status of Mary as a potential mother of the Savior, Elizabeth became more certain that THERE WOULD ALWAYS BE FULFILMENTS OF GOD'S PROMISES. Not only did Elizabeth grow stronger in faith, she was also filled with the Holy Spirit and the child in her womb was filled with joy.

 

We may not understand what we do for others when we still cling to faith and hope: FAITH in God and HOPE in what He can still do for us. The word of God says, "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend" (Prov. 27:17). Your little expression of faith (either by words of encouragement or acts of kindness) can rekindle a massive response of faith in some other person. Please, always be an inspiration!

 

Prayer 

May God also visit you with great news of joy, victory, liberation, healing and peace! By your faith and hope in Him, may you continue to be an inspiration unto others, Amen!

 

 

Happy Feast of the Visitation!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gifts versus the Giver (Monday, Week 20, Year II)

-
Image
A gift, by the virtue of what it is, is given. In other words, there must be a giver. Gift can come or be in the form of a good friendship or relationship, material thing, good job, personal talent, and so on. Every cherished gift is the delight of our eyes, the pride of our power and the desire of our souls. The gifts that we possess should then remind us of the giver. It smacks of arrogance and ingratitude when gifts are used without acknowledging or making reference to the giver. For the Jews, the Temple or Sanctuary was the delight of their eyes, the pride of their power and the desire of their souls. It was a precious gift which they jealously guarded. However, they adorned the Sanctuary but did not truly adore the One for whom the Sanctuary exists. They were too attached to the “gift” (sanctuary) but were completely detached from the Giver of the gift – from Yahweh. Ezekiel prophesied to them that this sanctuary which was their delight will be profaned and taken away from them. M
Read more

Persecution and Triumph, the Two Realities of Christian life (Saturday, Week 33, Year 2, The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

-
Image
The book of Revelation is full of symbols and imageries that need to be carefully interpreted for us to understand the message they communicate. In today’s first reading (cf. Rev. 11:4-12), John was told about two olive trees and two lamp stands serving as witnesses to the Holy One. Who or what do these two sets of witnesses (olive trees and lamp stand) stand for? When we read further in order to understand what happened to these two witnesses, it may be a bit clear to us that the “two witnesses” may be pointing to Moses and Elijah, judging from what they did on earth and what they stand for. Moses stands for the Law; and Elijah stands for the Prophet. Anyone who bears witness as Moses bore witness to the Law of God must be persecuted by the beast as the first reading (from the Book of Revelation) recounted. Anyone who bears witness to the messages of truth as Elijah and other prophets did must be persecuted just as the prophets were persecuted. Persecution is a fate that awaits every
Read more

Enkindle the Embers of Unity, Quench the Fire of Disunity (Wednesday, Week 22, Year A)

-
Image
For some time now, we have heard Paul talk about the spiritual and the unspiritual: what it means to live and operate on the level of the Spirit (the spiritual) and on the level of the flesh (the unspiritual). Paul was very emphatic about this topic possibly because he was addressing a group of people who were too intellectual and academic in their approach to the things of God and all of that. Remember that the Corinthians were Greek; and the ancient Greeks were known to be too particular and more interested in intellectualism, sophistry, philosophy and human wisdom. And we must not forget that Paul has been very suspicious of over-reliance on worldly/human wisdom in understanding and appreciating the things of the Spirit. To rely more on human/worldly wisdom is a sign that one may be operating on the level of the flesh; and to operate on the level of the flesh breeds a whole lot of vices such as division or sectionalism, hedonism, and so on. In today’s section of that letter to the C
Read more