Greetings

Romans 12:9-16; Among you is the great and HOly one of ISrael; Luke 1:39-56

Today in the church we celebrate the feast of the Visitation. We celebrate the 2nd joyful mystery, when MAry, our BLessed Mother travels to the hill country to visit and assist her cousin Elizabeth.

As we ponder this beautiful moment in history, just a few things that stand out.

What is striking about the encounter as we enter into the biblical narrative is the fact that the joy of JOhn in his mother's womb begins with the greeting of MAry.

Her greeting brings forth the good news, carries with it the grace of the son she has conceived in her womb: "for at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy."


Think about the many greetings we have made in our life. THink about the many greetings we will make today or those that await the arrival of tomorrow or linger on the horizon of the days still to come.

How often have we just rushed through our greetings of people just to get on with the conversation or even to just get on with our life? How often have we been busy with so many things that our greetings have been anything but welcoming and certainly anything but that which carried with it the grace of Christ?

As believers, as baptized Christians, we all carry the same reality in our life that MAry carried in her womb. The Holy spirit seeks to bring forth Christ from our life on a daily basis.

Think about how important a greeting is as well. It really does set the tone for the conversation to follow; it sets the tone for the visit to unfold.

When is the last time our greeting resulted in a leap for joy?

Maybe it is time to slow down a bit. Maybe it is time to truly be attentive the presence of Christ living in our soul, burning in our hearts. Only when we are attentive to this presence and the working of God' SPirit with in can we truly bring forth the grace of God with ever greeting we make.

The genuine recollection of God's presence within will sincerely bring forth an awakening of faith, enlivening of hope, and deepening of love not only for ourselves but for all those we greet along the way.

"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, "Most Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."

What a greeting, what an encounter with grace of the living God.