LK
1: 39-45
VISITATION
OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY TO HER COUSIN ELIZABETH
Today’s
Gospel was taken from Luke (1: 39-45). It is about Mary’s visit to Elizabeth.
The priest’s sermon in the Mass that I attended this afternoon has highlighted
the mention about ‘Mary leaving in haste to meet her cousin, Elizabeth.’ The
homily asked: ‘why did Mary have to leave in haste?’
Perhaps,
one important conjecture that we could make as to why Mary had to see her
cousin, Elizabeth, and she would even have to leave in haste, is to say that
Mary perhaps, at this time, was also searching for a kind of explanation or
meaning about her situation. We have of course heard of Mary’s fiat when she
told the angel Gabriel, “Let it be done unto me according to your word” (Lk
1:38), but just like any normal person, she was also perhaps looking for a
logical explanation about her situation. Why was she chosen? Why would she have
to be pregnant when she had not known any man (Lk 1:34)?
One
thing perhaps that we could learn from Mary’s predicament at this time is the
fact that doubts do not necessarily equal to unbelief. In Mary’s case, it was
quite clear, when she raised the question in verse 34, she already had the
faith that moved her to pronounce the fiat in verse 38. Mary was and is always
faithful. But, her faith does not also mean that she will not seek an
explanation on was said to her by the Angel. Faith in this case does not take away
the need to grapple with reason.
In
the annunciation, Mary has given us an important lesson in faith. When we
believe, it does not mean that we could no longer ask questions, and that we
could no longer doubt. Sometimes, it is precisely our belief that may make us
raise the questions and entertain some doubts. But the questioning and doubt of
a believer is always one that leads to deeper faith, and not one that leads to
faith’s abandonment. Such is Mary’s example in the annunciation.
The
same perhaps can be said about the visitation. Mary is ‘leaving in haste.’ But
why? Here we could see that the visitation account is a sequel of the annunciation.
Even the questions of Mary revisit her at this moment. This could perhaps allow
us to see why she needed to see Elizabeth. She needs to find answers for some
of her questions, and Elizabeth is perhaps one of the best persons to go to.
Having
conceived John at an age when Elizabeth thought that she could no longer get
pregnant should not have also surprised Mary because that is basically the very
same condition that she is in at the time of the visitation. The visit is an
expression of trust, it’s an expression of a search, it speaks of a pilgrimage
where the faithful engages himself in a pilgrimage towards the truth of the matter.
The
visitation then also teaches us a thing or two. It first reminds us that we
have many companions in our journey. There are many things in our life that may
be difficult to explain. There could be many things in our life that is hard to
bear, and some of them even would seem to be illogical. Mary’s gesture in her
visit to Elizabeth invites us to trust others in our pilgrimage. Our stories
may be personal, and could be owned by no one else but ourselves, but there are
also stories in other peoples’ lives that are analogical to our own. In such
case, it would be our conversations that will help us find the answers to some if
not many of our questions. Though we might need to be cautious, we do not have
to be afraid about mentioning our dilemmas to others.
Mary’s
leaving in haste may have told us of the urgency of the search for explanations
and answers. But, precisely, it is the act of ‘leaving’ that allows her ‘to
arrive’ at Elizabeth’s house, and thereby bring the grace of Christ to
Elizabeth while in return being bestowed with the kind of assurance that a
co-pilgrim like Elizabeth could provide. Mary is inviting all of us to ‘leave’
or to ‘abandon’ many things in our life; where such ‘leaving’ becomes
pre-requisite for our openness to other. We need not to be afraid to be exposed
to vulnerabilities and uncertainties. What we need is to be reminded always
that those deficiencies may not forever become a weakness. Our lack and
deficiencies could sometimes be needed and are therefore instrumental in our
journey to be able to commune with others, and therefore render ourselves open
to the wisdom that only our co-pilgrims could provide.
