Feast of Visitation of Our Lady (31st May)

Feast of Visitation of Our Lady (31^st May)

Each year the Universal Church celebrates the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and recalls Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth. The event is recorded in Luke 1:39-57. This Feast commemorates what is the second Joyful Mystery of the Rosary: Our Lady’s visit to her cousin, Elizabeth; who was six months pregnant with St. John the Baptist at the time. At the end of the Archangel Gabriel’s Annunciation to Our Lady that she will conceive, he tells her that her cousin, Elizabeth, an older woman thought barren, will also conceive. Feeling the presence of his Savior, John leaped within the womb of his mother Elizabeth upon Mary’s arrival; John was then filled with the grace of God.

Like most feasts of Mary, the Feast of visitation of our lady is closely connected with Jesus and his saving work. According to Luke’s Gospel, the visible people present are Mother Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. However, Jesus and John the Baptist take the scene in a hidden way. Jesus makes John leap with joy—the joy of messianic salvation. Elizabeth, in turn, is filled with the Holy Spirit and addresses words of praise to Mary; Mary sings what is now known as “the Magnificat” in response.

We can learn few special characteristics from Mother Mary’s visitation. When angel Gabriel announces Mother Mary that her cousin who was considered barren is pregnant; she went with haste or hurriedly to the hill country of Judea. This is an important element of hope for all people who devotedly approach Mother Mary for solutions. Although she herself is now pregnant, taking the extreme step of traveling to a hill country in those days to be with her cousin, who might not want to disclose her predicament of old age pregnancy. This feast thus reminds us that Mother Mary is the hope of all at any difficult moments of life. Let us also learn Mother Mary’s example of readiness and hurriedness for our brothers and sisters around us.

As the ‘Ark of Covenant’ helped to unite the 12 tribes of Israel by being placed in David’s capital; so Mother Mary brings God’s presence into the lives of other people. Let our devotion to Mother Mary bring all families and Christians to God’s presence closely.

St. Francis Xavier: Model to follow

St. Francis Xavier: Model to follow

The feast of St. Francis Xavier is celebrated on December 3. He was born in 1506 as a son of an aristocratic Spanish-Basque family. While studying at the University of Paris, he met St. Ignatius Loyola and that become a life changing event for Francis Xavier. Ignatius changed Francis’ goal in life with the question of the Gospel “What profit is it, if you gain the whole world, and lose your soul?” Together with six friends, Francis professed religious vows at Montmartre, Paris, starting the Jesuit community. After some studies of theology, Francis was ordained priest in Rome on June 24, 1537.

Ignatius of Loyola assigned Francis to work in India, and on May 6 1542, Francis arrived in Goa after a yearlong voyage. From there, Francis Xavier began to work among the poor of South India, Malacca, and the Moluccas Islands (Indonesia).

On August 15, 1549, Francis Xavier arrived in Kagoshima, Japan, where he established the first Christian community. In July 1552, Francis Xavier sailed for China, but he arrived at Sancian Island. He fell seriously ill with a fever, and died in Sancian Island on Dec. 3rd, 1552. On 11 December, 1553, Xavier’s body was shipped to Goa. The body is now in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa, where it was placed in a glass container encased in a silver casket on December 2, 1637. Francis Xavier was proclaimed Saint on March 12, 1622, declared Patron of all Missions, by Pope Pius X in 1904.

As St. Francis was a great missionary to Africa, India and Japan, we all should consider our missionary duty. Jesus’ last words on earth were to his disciples, telling them “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19). We as the members of the Universal Church; are Christ’s disciples and missionaries today. We can spread the Gospel through daily witnesses in our home, work, school etc to show how we live the Faith.

Prayer: Lord God of compassion and mercy, you opened a door in the East for St. Francis Xavier when you sent him to preach your Gospel. Send us in our day over the face of the earth, so that the joy of our Mother, the Church, may be made perfect. Amen