The Visitation of the blessed Mary

29th May is the deadline of submitting your voluntary work record, did you input any records? Or have you ever participated in the voluntary work for the school or society? It is appreciated that if your answer is a yes, but if your answer is a no, I would like you to think about the reason. The most common answers I have heard from some students are, I have so much homework, I need to go to the tutorial class. The reasons sound rational. However, when we talk about playing online games or watching youtube, it seems that no one would say no because of the study. Instead, you rather leave your homework until the last minute and enjoy the leisure time first. In fact, anything could be the reason to explain if you are determined to do something, or you want to the something. While anything could be an excuse for you to reject the things you don’t want to do.

Today is the feast of The Visitation of the blessed Mary. It refers to the story of the Virgin Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth. Since Elizabeth became pregnant in her old age, Mary would like to visit Elizabeth and show her care. Therefore Mary traveled from Nazareth to Elizabeth’s house which was located in a city in Judah. The distance between the 2 places is around 150km. It is definitely not easy to have such a long travel from the north to the south in the old days, especially Mary was also pregnant at that time. Mary’s visitation portrays her care and love for Elizabeth that she was willing to travel a long distance just to meet her relatives. By commemorating the visitation, it reminds us to treat others kindly, especially those who are in need. Mary’s visit to Elizabeth helped her through a difficult time, and brought blessings to her child. Indeed, Mary who was also pregnant at that time, is also the one who is in need. However, Mary didn’t make any excuse as she knew that by caring others, we are manifesting God’s love, which is what we should do in our life.

Therefore, when there are opportunities for you to do charity or whenever you meet someone who is seeking for help, try to learn from Mary and make good use of the talents God has given you. When we focus on working out our own goals, don’t forget that being a person who is considerate, humble and willing to serve is also important in our growth. Let us ask for God’s help and may He grants us the strength to help those in need proactively. As Jesus has taught us, whatever we did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters, we did for God.

Ms Chan CYJ
1 June 2023