”One of the most beautiful moments in history was that when pregnancy met pregnancy when child bearers became the first heralds of the King of Kings."

"John was "filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb" by Christ himself, whom the Virgin Mary had just conceived by the Holy Spirit. Mary's visitation to Elizabeth thus became a visit from God to his people." - CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (717)

Gospel Text: (LK 1:39-56)

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.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Visitation of Mary. There are so many moments in this Gospel passage about which we could reflect upon. I would like to focus on just one.

Just as the mother of the Messiah approaches the mother of the Forerunner – at the very moment Mary’s greeting was heard – John leaped for joy in Elizabeth’s womb.

1st Peter 1:8 explains it pretty well…

“Though you have not seen him, you love him;
and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him
and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”

When I thought about this encounter between John the Baptist as an infant in the womb of his mother Elizabeth and Jesus it kind of made me chuckle a little bit as I was reminded of that age-old question, “What is my purpose in life?”  Even before his birth, John the Baptist was pointing the way to Christ.

Today’s Gospel uncovers that all of us have a “bottom-line” vocation – that we are all called to be like Mary and bring Christ to our world, and to be like John the Baptist and point the way to the Saving Lord.  In all we do, and all we experience, God is there, and we are called to see Him, to announce Him.  This quote from St. John Chrysostom of John the Baptist can certainly be considered a solid and unmistakable blueprint for our own lives:

"He has not yet left the womb but he speaks by leaping; he is not yet allowed to cry out but he makes himself heard by his actions; he has not yet seen the light but he points out the Sun.”

“If we were to gain God's perspective, even for a moment, and were to look at the way we go through life accumulating and hoarding and displaying our things, we would have the same feelings of horror and pity that any sane person has when he views people in an asylum endlessly beating their heads against the wall.”

The Bible, from the first page on, teaches us that the whole of creation is for humanity, that it is men and women’s responsibility to develop it by intelligent effort and by means of their labor to perfect it, so to speak, for their use. If the world is made to furnish each individual with the means of livelihood and the instruments for growth and progress, all people have therefore the right to find in the world what is necessary for them. - Populorum Progressio (“On the Development of Peoples”), Pope Paul VI, 1967, #22.

Gospel Text: (MK 12:1-12)

Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes,

and the elders in parables.

“A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it,

dug a wine press, and built a tower.

Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey.

At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants

to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard.

But they seized him, beat him,

and sent him away empty-handed.

Again he sent them another servant.

And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully.

He sent yet another whom they killed.

So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed.

He had one other to send, a beloved son.

He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’

But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir.

Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’

So they seized him and killed him,

and threw him out of the vineyard.

What then will the owner of the vineyard do?

He will come, put the tenants to death,

and give the vineyard to others.

Have you not read this Scripture passage:

The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

by the Lord has this been done,

and it is wonderful in our eyes?”

They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd,

for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them.

So they left him and went away.

What kind of tenants are we? Those who work hard or those who get annoyed when the master sends his servants to collect the rent from us? We may oppose those in charge of helping us give the fruits God expects. We may object to the teachings of the Holy Church and of the Pope, the bishops, or perhaps, more modestly, those of our parents, our spiritual director, or a good friend of ours who is trying to help us. We may even become aggressive, and try to wound them or even kill them through criticism and negative comments. We should examine ourselves about the real motives of such an attitude on our part. Maybe we need a deeper knowledge of our Faith; maybe we need a deeper knowledge of ourselves, a better examination of conscience to discover the reason why we do not want to produce fruits.

Let us ask Our Mother Mary to help us work with love under the guidance of the Pope. We can all be “good shepherds” and “fishers” of men. «Let us (…) ask the Lord to help us to bear fruit, a fruit that abides. Only thus is the earth transformed from a vale of tears into a garden of God» (Benedict XVI).

He who has faith has... an inward reservoir of courage, hope, confidence, calmness, and assuring trust that all will come out well — even though to the world it may appear to come out most badly.

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” ― C.S. Lewis: (1898 –1963: was a British novelist, poet, and academic)

Gospel Text: (MK 11:27-33)

Jesus and his disciples returned once more to Jerusalem.

As he was walking in the temple area,

the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders

approached him and said to him,

“By what authority are you doing these things?

Or who gave you this authority to do them?”

Jesus said to them, “I shall ask you one question.

Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.”

They discussed this among themselves and said,

“If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say,

‘Then why did you not believe him?’

But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”–

they feared the crowd,

for they all thought John really was a prophet.

So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.”

Then Jesus said to them,

“Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Today, the Gospel is asking us to think what our intentions are when we go to meet Jesus. Some go without faith, without recognizing His authority: this is why, «the chief priests, the teachers of the Law and the elders came to him and asked, «What authority do you have to act like this? Who gave you authority to do the things you do?» (Mk 11:27-28).

If our intentions are good, and we turn to Jesus, we shall discover who He is and will understand his words, when He asks us: «Was John's preaching and baptism a work of God, or was it merely something human?» (Mk 11:30). Through faith we know it was a work of God, and that His authority comes by way of his Father, who is God, and by Himself, for He is the second Person of the Blessed Trinity.


And because we know Jesus is the only savior of the world, we turn to his Mother who is also our Mother, so that we may receive Jesus' words and life, with good intention and good will, to relish in peace and joy as sons of God.

You don't know how to pray? Put yourself in the presence of God, and as soon as you have said, 'Lord, I don't know how to pray!" you can be sure you have already begun.'

According to the divine plan, action must be fed with prayer. The interior life is the wellspring of the apostolate. Do not believe in the slogan, "The priest is sanctified in sanctifying others" - it's an illusion. The real formula is, "Sanctify yourself so as to sanctify others. - Blessed Edward Poppe: (1890 - 1924: was a Belgian priest. He was declared blessed by Pope John Paul II on 3 October 1999.)

Gospel Text: (MK 11:11-26)

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple area.

He looked around at everything and, since it was already late,

went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry.

Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf,

he went over to see if he could find anything on it.

When he reached it he found nothing but leaves;

it was not the time for figs.

And he said to it in reply, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again!”

And his disciples heard it.

They came to Jerusalem,

and on entering the temple area

he began to drive out those selling and buying there.

He overturned the tables of the money changers

and the seats of those who were selling doves.

He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area.

Then he taught them saying, “Is it not written:

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples?

But you have made it a den of thieves.”

The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it

and were seeking a way to put him to death,

yet they feared him

because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching.

When evening came, they went out of the city.

Early in the morning, as they were walking along,

they saw the fig tree withered to its roots.

Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look!

The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”

Jesus said to them in reply, “Have faith in God.

Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,

‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’

and does not doubt in his heart

but believes that what he says will happen,

it shall be done for him.

Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer,

believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.

When you stand to pray,

forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance,

so that your heavenly Father may in turn

forgive you your transgressions.”

Excessive anxiety, worry and fear rob many people of their inner peace.  The stresses caused by the demands of modern life are having serious consequences on people's mental health, which in turn are having serious effects on people's physical health.  



Those who suffer from a lack of inner peace due to anxiety, worry and fear quickly turn to medications to relieve their pervasive symptoms.  The amount of Americans taking sleeping pills and the amount of children and teenagers taking some kind of medication for anxiety are astounding.  


One solutions for this epidemic loss of inner peace is contemplative prayer! – To be honest, another solution is going to confession with a priest once a month, but that is a reflection for another time.

Look at prayer as a conversation with God. Prayer is like continually being in love because God is real and personal.  No matter what might be going on in our lives, we must always pray, and pray daily. Prayer is the air that we breathe.  
When I speak to you about a life of prayer, I am not referring to the mere saying of prayers.  I am talking about something much deeper. 

There are different types of prayer.  One form of prayer is vocal prayer and another form of prayer is mental prayer.  There are two types of mental prayer.  One form of mental prayer is meditation and the other form of mental prayer is contemplation. 

Meditation and contemplation are quite different.  The person who meditates usually uses the Scriptures or some other spiritual book.  Contemplation does not employ any books at all.  Contemplation is the prayer of the heart and not of the mind.  Contemplative prayer may focus on a word or a mantra or one may simply sit in the presence of God (in the Blessed Sacrament) during a Holy Hour.

Ours is an anxious and chaotic world.  Isn't it time that we got back into balance? Excessive work and travel, excessive involvement in sports and entertainment are tearing us apart.  The experience of God through contemplative prayer will restore balance and peace into our busy lives.