The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Sunday 2 July A✠D 2023
✠ Psalmody: St. Luke 1:46b–47;1 Samuel 2:1–2, 7–8;Psalm 103:2; 105:5;100:4;St. Luke 1:45
✠ Lection: Song of Solomon 2:8b–14;Romans 12:9-16;St. Luke 1:39-56
In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Remember our dear sister Elizabeth’s situation leading up to six months prior to the Blessed Virgin visiting her home in the hill country of Judea. She was far beyond any feasible child-bearing years; an obvious many number of them married to Zechariah, which normally would’ve been plenty of opportunity for childbearing, but not only was she beyond that period of life, she had lived it to completion with the affliction of being barren. St. Luke tells of this godly couple, “In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.” Just as it was for Hannah in the Old Testament, and just as it is for all women who desire children yet have born none, Elizabeth’s pain and disappointment were sure to be deep and real, especially considering how that culture valued the godly blessing of wife at home nurturing children, and considering how she and Zechariah were both of priestly lineage, making them primed for continuing the tradition with a male child, or children, to eventually serve at the altar of the Lord, as His voice to His people. Yet the stage that was set, the full cradles that were hoped for, remained empty as they endured her barrenness while surely being troubled that such was her case. But greater was their faith. Greater was their Lord in whom their faith rested and lived because He gave fruit to her womb, miraculously in her advanced, barren years. And though He loved her in His infinite grace with or without the removal of her childless affliction, through the once-closed womb of this righteous, aged saint, the forerunner of the Messiah was conceived into the world, not to be a priest to serve in God’s House, but to prepare the way of the Lord and make the path straight as the tabernacled God came in the flesh after him.
Neither Elizabeth’s story, nor St. John the Baptist’s story, nor your story, nor my story can give us what we ultimately need regardless of how sweet God makes the situation in reversing certain courses that our lives seem to be on, or the environment in which He is calling us to live them. Elizabeth’s faithful response to simply hearing the voice of the Mother of God is enough to teach us, for all generations past, present, and future. Yes, we celebrate, give thanks to God, and rejoice when we are given miraculously good government with sane, moral, reasonable, and caring leaders, peace in our streets, affection, care, and respect among us and our neighbors, loaded fridges, dependable vehicles, and the blessings of children. But Elizabeth reminds us that even the greatest blessings that we receive in this life should always bring about praise of He Who comes to us bringing them, whether we recognize in the moment that such things are coming from Him or not. The joys of realizing, believing, and responding to the presence of God and His blessings in our lives come only by the work of the Holy Spirit, as He worked so in our dear sister when she heard the voice of Mary, who was carrying the incarnate Christ in her womb. Oh, how blessed it is to have a home where Jesus enters in and is worshipped!
Though the characters change with different festivals that the Church celebrates, be it of Saints Peter and Paul, St. Cyril, St. John the Baptist, or his parents, the priest Zechariah and wife Elizabeth, it all comes back to and is founded upon the One Christ; to and upon the One blessing by which all the nations of the earth are blessed; to and upon the One blessing Who brings salvation; to and upon the One Blessing Who makes poor and makes rich, Who brings low and exalts, Who raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, Who is the Promised Shoot from the stump of Jesse, the Branch Who bears the blessed fruit of eternal life, the blessed fruit of the Virgin Mary’s womb, Who is Christ your Lord, Who is Christ your Savior, Who is Christ your dearest Friend. The difference Maker in all celebrated feasts and festivals, in all Sunday Divine Services, in all family and personal home devotions, in all prayers, in all praises, in all hymns sung in church, car, or home, the difference Maker is the One Who enters in to where you are, Who is present, Who has all authority on heaven and on earth, Who has promised to be with you, lo, even till the end of the age, not only then in the end, but from now until then, until all eternity, until all ages of ages. He is the Difference. He is the Joy. He is your Joy.
Elizabeth asked, “Why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” You also are right to ask why is this granted to you that the Lord Himself, in His Word, in His promise, in His Sacrament, in His body and blood, the very incarnate flesh that was nurtured in that blessed womb so many years ago, why is this granted to you that He should come to you? It is because the Lord does not forsake the lowly, and lowly we are, regardless of our circumstances. He has not forgotten the sinner, the young, the advanced in years, the down-trodden, the fearful, the worried, the hurting, the confused, or the desperate. He has completed acts of love and sacrifice that only the blood of God could satisfy, and He comes to you, not as an unborn baby in the womb still with victory to attain, but now as the fulfilled Promise of victorious Savior who forgives your sins and gifts you with joys unending. Your salvation is secure, your hope is immovable, even in the worst that this world can throw at you, your Savior, the Savior of the Nations has come and is here again for you as He has promised. Bank every day on Him and His Word for the new heart He has given you can only find joy where it finds Him for He has visited salvation upon you. Your heart cannot find true joy in worldly passions, circumstance, condition, or even the richest blessings of this age. Instead, blessed is St. Mary who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. Instead, blessed are you who believe that there is and will be fulfillment of what is spoken to you from the Lord in His Holy Word. The joyous, inspired words of the psalms and the rest of Scripture are yours in the midst of life, regardless of how dark the storm, how smokey the sky, or how bright the dawn, for the Lord has not forgotten you in your afflictions. He has come in the flesh to redeem you and is your salvation.
Be it that all the righteous desires of your heart were to be fulfilled in this life, there truly remains but one thing needful and its absence or removal from you is not something you will ever have to fear. For according to His steadfast love and for the sake of His holy name has He granted to you the benefit of Him coming to you, for you, with all the riches of heaven, even into your humble home, with all the goodness of hope in the assured life everlasting, and with the comfort that the Lord your God has not nor will He ever forsake His people. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all his benefits: Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him, and bless his name!
In ✠ Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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