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The feast of the Visitation celebrates the biblical encounter of the Virgin Mary and her cousin Elizabeth.
During those days 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.
Luke 1:39-40
St. John Paul II reflected on this event in a homily, emphasizing Mary’s humility and her charitable heart.
Today’s feast of the Visitation presents to us another aspect of Mary’s inner life: her attitude of humble service and disinterested love for those in need. She has just heard from the Angel Gabriel of the state of her kinswoman Elizabeth, and at once she sets out for the hills “in haste” to reach a city of Judah
Mary is for us an example of selfless love for another, willing to drop everything to help another person in need.
“No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us … And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also” (1 Jn 4:12.21), St John the evangelist will say. But who, better than Mary, had put this message into practice? And who, if not Jesus, whom she bore in her womb, urged her, stimulated her, inspired her to this continual attitude of generous service and disinterested love of others? “The Son of man came not to be served but to serve” (Mt 20:28), Jesus will say to his disciples; but his Mother had already carried out perfectly this attitude of her Son.
If we need any inspiration for charitable service, may we look to Mary and ask for her intercession.
And today we celebrate...