“Make your home in me as I make mine in you” is an amazing statement of Jesus about the mutuality of being hospitable to God and God to us. Jesus is knocking at the door of our hearts: Do we open our hearts to His?
The Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth is a model of what each of us can be. This also serves as a symbol of what the church should be through greeting and welcoming. The spirit of the Visitation is “a spirit of hospitality towards our neighbor.” When Mary greeted Elizabeth, John the Baptist, who is in Elizabeth’s womb, leaps with excitement knowing that Jesus, his cousin, is the son of our Lord. We are challenged in the story of the Visitation to remain open to the Lord’s call and prepare ourselves to be hospitable with joyful anticipation to the presence of God that exists in others.
To the extent that we focus on embodying this welcoming spirit of the living God in relation to ourselves and to others, we are living at what is called in the Salesian tradition at the high point of the soul. We are called to live at this fine point of our soul and spirit, loving and welcoming, despite what we may be feeling about others or even ourselves, in any given moment.
This is so relevant to our experience here in the United States in these current times. Our differences and divisions can be so deep seated toward one another that families and friends have been sacrificed because they stand on the other side of the aisle—whether divided by conservative vs. liberal; Democrat vs. Republican; gay vs. straight; legal immigrant vs. illegal immigrant—and the list goes on and on.
By making a choice to be proactively sensitive to all the magnificent subtlety in the world, we can place ourselves on the path that can uplift our whole experience of life. Sometimes we have a narrow expectation of only looking for the big things in life to make a difference:
- We may want a dramatic expression of love from a personal partner.
- We might expect a large pay raise or to be presented with public recognition or awards for our work.
- We may, perhaps without realizing it, expect others to be more concerned about our immediate needs than their own.
When we are not open, we can miss out on so many graces that come to us subtlety.
- We could miss the small but heartfelt gesture that a family member does specifically for our benefit.
- We might not notice the sincere but subtle compliment someone offers us at work.
- We might miss the compromise that long-time opponents offer on a subject that they have been un-budging.
Sometimes, when we are really caught up in what seem to be the bigger cares of life, the drama of subtlety may even seek us out and offer us the gift of freedom, if only for a moment, from our many self-imposed burdens.
Let us learn from the Visitation of Mary and work to live at the high point of the soul.
May God be Praised!
Fr. Ed Ogden, OSFS
Parochial Vicar, St. Thomas the Apostle Parish,
Glenn Mills, PA
This reflection originally appeared in DeSales Weekly, the e-newsletter of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. To received DeSales Weekly, click Subscribe Here.
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Father Bill McCandless, OSFS
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