THE WORD AND THE FEAST
May 31, 2022: The Feast of VisitationZephaniah 3: 14-18 (or) Romans 12: 9-16; Luke 1: 39-56
Mary visits Elizabeth... a Biblical event that may apparently look simple, but remains a redefining moment in the history of Christian faith. We say history of Christian faith, because it redefines it from the roots - that is from the hebrew faith conviction of being the chosen people of God. The fact that they were the 'chosen people' was very dear to the Jews, and it continues to be, they will never give up on that identity of theirs!
The Old Testament bears examples to this, as could be cited in one of today's alternative first readings, the one from Zepahniah. They were filled with a blessed joy, a holy pride and a splendid self-image, because of their chosen-ness. But their idea of chosenness was constantly challenge from the time, the Christ-event began within that faith tradition, for the sake of the whole humanity.
In the feast that we celebrate today, we see that Mary, the chosen Mother of God, topples this order and redefines 'chosen-ness'; she rushes to be of service to Elizabeth and sings of the Glory of God, underlining her unworthiness, inspite of which God had chosen her! To be chosen is to be of service; to be of service to others is a sign of being chosen!
Truly blessed joy is necessarily complemented with a compassionate sensitivity to the other; the holy pride is replaced with a humble gratitude to God; and the resplendent self-image is challenged by a realisation of the great things that the Lord has done, making oneself a sign, a bearer, an instrument of God's glory!
We can foresee, in the act of Mary going out to serve Elizabeth, the mind of Christ - a mind of servant leadership, sensitive companionship and selfless stewardship.The attitude of Mary manifested here and other places such as the Cana where she reached out, and after resurrection when she stayed with the apostles to strengthen them... was reflected in her son's life - he too reached out to the sick, to the so-called sinners, to the suffering, to the berieved, to the downtrodden, to the marginalised... probably, or may be even certainly, he was schooled at the hands of his mother. And that is how he learnt to redefine, his own chosenness!
Our blessed mother challenges us today, to redefine our chosenness: first of all, we should feel convinced of our chosenness; secondly, we need to learn that our chosenness is not for ourselves but for others; and thirdly, to be chosen is to be of service and to be of service is the sign of being chosen!