The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Reading 1

Zep 3:14-18a or Rom 12:9-16

Zep 3:14-18a

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!

Sing joyfully, O Israel!

Be glad and exult with all your heart,

O daughter Jerusalem!

The LORD has removed the judgment against you,

he has turned away your enemies;

The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,

you have no further misfortune to fear.

On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:

Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!

The LORD, your God, is in your midst,

a mighty savior;

He will rejoice over you with gladness,

and renew you in his love,

He will sing joyfully because of you,

as one sings at festivals.

or

Rom 12:9-16

Brothers and sisters:

Let love be sincere;

hate what is evil,

hold on to what is good;

love one another with mutual affection;

anticipate one another in showing honor.

Do not grow slack in zeal,

be fervent in spirit,

serve the Lord.

Rejoice in hope,

endure in affliction,

persevere in prayer.

Contribute to the needs of the holy ones,

exercise hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you,

bless and do not curse them.

Rejoice with those who rejoice,

weep with those who weep.

Have the same regard for one another;

do not be haughty but associate with the lowly;

do not be wise in your own estimation.

Isaiah 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6
R. (6) Among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.

God indeed is my savior;

I am confident and unafraid.

My strength and my courage is the LORD,

and he has been my savior.

With joy you will draw water

at the fountain of salvation.

R. Among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.

Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;

among the nations make known his deeds,

proclaim how exalted is his name.

R. Among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.

Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;

let this be known throughout all the earth.

Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,

for great in your midst

is the Holy One of Israel!

R. Among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.


Lk 1:39-56Gospel
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.

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.”

And Mary said:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

the Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel

for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

the promise he made to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children for ever.”

Mary remained with her about three months

and then returned to her home.
________________________________________

This following paragraph is the first thing I read this morning and it settled my heart.
"The Image of Mary and Elizabeth embracing seems an especially fitting one for the Church these days. No doubt these two very human women had their separate reasons to be afraid and weary as they faced the realities of pregnancy, but together they found joy and courage. At the root of this joy was the presence of Jesus, communicated by the Holy Spirit and recognized even by the baby Elizabeth was carrying. But the two expectant mothers needed each other's support to go foward in faith, hope, and love."

The last line just touched my heart to the core, this is the very essence of this blogging community. We are all expectant mothers - we are all expecting God to fulfill our dreams of motherhood.

The meditation went on to say "Fear and discouragement seem to thrive when we are isolated. Togetherness certainly has its own difficulties at times, but alone we are stuck within the limits of what we can know and see and feel. With the mutual affirmations and shared faith of the Body of Christ, our horizons widen." This meditation was found in Living Faith (Mark Neilsen was the author of this meditation).

I have been so amazed at God's goodness at sending me the support I need at just the right time. I have been struggling a bit. I felt pretty lousy this weekend, starting friday afternoon. I still had some b, only little. My stomach just felt odd. Today has been so much better. Praise God. I have a pretty good amount of anxiety for tomorrow's u/s and ob appointment.

I have to mention that I was trying to figure out a better way to bond with this sweet baby and finally I figured out the way that works for us ;) I used to sing, but last night I began telling the baby stories of us and all of our family. It was such a blessing. I really felt connected. It is working for us!!!

One last note, I was able to get some fresh shrimp and homemade onion rings today! I had to seriously limit my shrimp intake, but it was delicious! It has been so much fun spending the last three days with my husband and not having a schedule. We have slept in every morning (I know this will be in short supply in the near future)and we took naps!!! Who knew we needed so much rest.

May you all have a day of blessing today!