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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 31 May 2023 Romans 12:9-16 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Luke 1:39-56
Glory and praise to you, God our loving Father who had come and comes daily in Christ Jesus our Lord! Just like in this Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, you always surprise us dear God like Elizabeth.
Every visitation is always surprising, especially when you are the one coming, O God.
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?”
Luke 1:41-43
Like Elizabeth, we are so surprised with your visitation in Christ Jesus because if ever there is anyone who should be making the visit, it should be us - or Elizabeth who should have visited Mary who was pregnant with Jesus Christ. What a beautiful anticipation it was of Christ's mission through his self-emptying or kenosis when he said "The Son of Man has come to serve and not to be served" (see Mt.20:28, Mk. 10:45).
Keep us home, keep us grounded in you, Lord, like Elizabeth, always ready to be surprised with your visit, to welcome your coming in the Holy Spirit to shake us and examine our many beliefs, traditions and conventions that have prevented us from making Jesus more present among us especially the poor and marginalized; keep us home, keep us rooted in you like Elizabeth, Lord, ready to be radical, to go back to our roots and rootedness so that only what is most essential we must keep - the person of Jesus Christ himself because many times, we do not recognize your coming, your visits as we are busy "visiting" worldly concerns than being focused in you our Lord.
Come, Lord Jesus, visit us like when you visited Elizabeth and John through Mary your Mother so we may imitate her in bringing you to the hungry and poor so that we may learn to practice St. Paul's admonition, "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" (Rom. 12:9-10).
Surprise us, Lord! Amen.
