12/21/10 - The Visitation

Luke 1:39-45

 

Mary set out in those days
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”
----

 

Has there ever been a more "personal relationship with Jesus" than this -- the Blessed Mary, carrying the Christ in her womb?  His blood mixed with hers.  Every morsel she ate fed Him.  She could feel every move he made.  She cared for every need of his, both in the womb and through the first several years of life. In my opinion, there is no personal relationship more intimate than between mother and child. 

 

What's awesome is that she can share that intimacy with us.  She can show us how to wait on Him.  How to be His handmaiden.  How to ponder His truths in our hearts.  How to submit entirely to His will.  How to bear trials with grace and faith.  How to stand firm to the end, when everyone else had run away.

 

If I want intimacy with Christ -- which is the true definition of a "personal relationship" -- then I'd do well to learn from her.  That's why Catholics hold her in such high regard. 

 

It's so sad that she has been rejected by so many in this world.