Feast of Visitation 2010

Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Visitation. When Angel Gabriel informed Mary that her old, barren cousin Elizabeth had been pregnant for six months, Mary immediately went down from Nazareth to Hebron to visit her cousin. Mary was pregnant too.
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah,
and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-40).
Did Mary want to prove whether Angel Gabriel had told the truth? Very unlikely.
Zechariah doubted Gabriel because he was more advanced in age and inevitably more realistic. Considering his old age and the barrenness of his wife, Zechariah was unprepared to receive Gabriel's good news. In the case of Mary, she had an age advantage. She was young, only a teenager. She had been "protected" from the realism and worldliness of adult life.

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:41).
A lot of theology is developed from the above verse.
The pregnant Mary has become the Theotokos Θεοτόκος. Her presence in the house of Zechariah was enough to sanctify Elizabeth and her baby John. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and baby John was so excited that he leaped in her womb.
From this, theologians came up with the teaching that John the Baptist was cleaned of his Original Sin. Turning to Mary, theologians came up with the teaching that the Mother of God exercised her role as a Mediatrix. Through her mediation, Christ gives us sanctifying grace. She would do it again when Jesus worked his first miracle.

and she (Elizabeth) exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 
And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 
For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. 
And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." (Luke 1:42-45)
Elizabeth has shown the proper attitude towards Mary. Mary is the mother of our Lord. Biblical scholars believe that this claim was anachronical. It was after his resurrection that Jesus was called the Lord.
Then Mary sang her famous hymn, the Magnificat. She was overjoyed that people are drawn closer to God. There is no greater joy for Christians than seeing people come closer to God.

At last, a bombshell exploded in Shung Tak today. Brenda tendered her letter of resignation and will leave Shung Tak in September. We will wait and see the aftermath.

Dear Theotokos, come to our aid. Amen.