Mary visits Elizabeth:
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home
When someone anointed with the Spirit of God, the first sign is they reach out to others forgetting their own needs or cares . This is Divine love, the divinity of God can not self contained but surpassing through or flowing from one heart to another. Mother Mary experienced this Divine intervention in her at the Greeting of Gabriel Angel and at the Divine Conception. The time she experienced the Spirit of God in his fullness, she goes out of the Contemplative Spiritual life and tries to reach out the needy Elizabeth who required help and support at her Pregnancy in her old age.
Mother Theresa went through the same experience in one of the retreats she had in her Contemplative Congregation and comes out of the Contemplative Spirituality in to the Divine Human Spirituality of Prayer and Service. We see many Congregations, Organisations, Parishes,Retreat Centers, Families, Individuals doing many things in our Spiritual life but the spirituality is limited with in the four walls of our dwelling place. Mother Mary and Mother Theresa did not think twice of their individual contentment but step out of their dwelling place to the place of service and love.
Mother Mary gives us an example that Divine experience is not an Ecstasy of imagination but a reality of service and charity. We see many people have God experience in their life but not able to love and forgive their own kin or Community members. This kind of Spirituality is double minded or hypocritical. I know a renewed Priest who has been thrown out of his Congregation and Diocese and the priest has started his own Retreat Center just in miles away from his Congregation and we can see a competition in the Spirituality prevail in today’s World. These kind of Spirituality is scandalous and give us a bad example to the poor and people of other faith. Mother Theresa experienced this feeling from her community when she started serving the poor in the streets of Calcutta, after 30 years of her service, Church recognized her service and today her congregation is the largest and most active in terms of true missionary work and service.
Mother Mary was the Apostle of love and Service. She not only contemplated the Word of God in her heart but lived that word in reality by loving and obedient to her Husband Joseph and Son Jesus. She reached out at the Wedding at Cana and Elizabeth her cousin. The Church requires an urgent call in terms of Service . The families require to be ambassadors of love and forgiveness , we see all other things like Prayer, Tithing, Sacrifices, Fasting, Intercession in our Spiritual life but love and forgiveness which is the bottom line and the finishing line of our Spirituality is not met or blank . Can we be saved with this kind of Spiritual life is the question we must ask ourselves. Pope Francis reaching out to the migrants and calling out to help the poor in times of Pandemic. Pope Francis says if Christians do not reach out to the poor and sick at this time of difficult time they will be judged at the last day. Let us live our Salvation like Mother Mary, Mother Theresa, St.Paul , St.Francis Assisi and St.Francis Xavier in poverty , being poor ,humble and in persecution , in blessing and forgiveness, in giving and losing our life for the Whole World.
Prayer : Mother Mary teach us to be poor and help the poor in our life.Amen
PRAYER REFLECTIONS 