We started our May Shalom with St Joseph the Worker and end with the Blessed Virgin Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth. Both lives, as beginning and end, had magnified the Lord.

The visit by Mary to the House of Zechariah indicates the gracious effect that fills the heart and home of those who encounter the Lord as the Living Word. Indeed, whoever is visited by the Lord and His messengers has their life changed. The whole orientation towards the world is now connected with a purpose.

Mary, Elizabeth and the baby in her womb and Zechariah have seen the greater purpose of their lives in the greater scheme of God's kingdom. The grace of being raised up from lowliness to blessedness is offered to us too. It is like the parable of the Sower, we are all hearers of God's Word. How we nurture it, and let it take shape and nourish the lives of others is seen to magnify the graciousness of God in our lives. Our visits to the houses of others that need mercy, basic necessity, and raise the sense of dignity and worth reflect the meaning of this Feast of the Visitation of Mary. It is most providential that May being the Rosary Month, be an occasion of house to house visits of mercy and joy. Every act of hospitality is a magnification of welcoming the Lord with joy.