“And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?” (NRSV, Luke 1:43)

The Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a summer festival and it shares in all the beauty which we associate with summer – the bright and multi-coloured flowers, the leafy trees and the singing birds.

And as joy is the song of Nature now, so too is joy the song of the Visitation.  For this Festival is the birthday of the Magnificat, the first Christian song, whose note like that of most Christian songs, is joy.  “My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” (King James Bible, Luke 1:46,47, our emphasis).

Only a short time before Mary had been told by the Archangel Gabriel that at last the ancient prophecy of Isaiah was to be fulfilled, “…a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” – God with us (King James Bible, Isaiah 7:14).  As Gabriel said, “…the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God” (NRSV, Luke 1:35).

So Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country of Judea to visit her kinswoman Elizabeth, the mother-to-be of John the Baptist.  That was Our Lord’s first journey.  After he was born he went on many journeys.

He was hurried by Mary and Joseph from Bethlehem to Egypt as a refugee to save him from those who sought his life to take it away.  Then came the long journey back to Nazareth and, when 12 years old, south again to Jerusalem to take part in the solemn service of the Temple, and so back to his humble home in Nazareth.  And when he finally left there some 18 years later it was to go about from place to place in Galilee and Judea, teaching the people and healing those who were sick among them.

But now, even before his Birth, his journeyings had already begun as Mary made her way to Elizabeth.  She now contained him whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain (1 Kings 8:27); and within herself she nourished the growing body of him who, in the words of the psalmist, “…knit me together in my mother’s womb” (NRSV, Psalm 139:13).

So Mary entered Elizabeth’s house and greeted her.  And what was Elizabeth’s response?  It was the joyful astonishment that the honour of this Visitation should have been paid to her.  “…why has this happened to me”, she exclaimed, “that the mother of my Lord comes to me?” (NRSV, Luke 1:43, our emphasis).

And that question is our question too.  Why has this happened to us, that Our Lord should have come down into this world of ours from the “bosom of the Father”? (King James Bible, John 1:18).

Why has this happened that “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (King James Bible, John 1:11) – that he was persecuted, flogged, crowned with thorns, spat upon and slain?

Yes, why has it happened to me that he suffered in Gethsemane, was flung by Pilate to the mob, was torn upon the Cross and left there to die?

The answer is Love, just Love: that is the whole message of the Gospel, there is nought else beside that.

It was love that brought him to visit our world then: it is love that brings him to visit us now at his Altar; as he comes down to us today into our workaday world from the bosom of the Father.

This Church is the House of God, God’s trysting place – his special meeting place – and the Eucharist is his trysting time with his people.  “…I am with you always, to the end of the age” (NRSV, Matthew 28:20) was his promise, and he is keeping it now, in our midst, all the days of our life.  He comes to his Altar Throne and we kneel before him as the shepherds and the Wise Men did in Bethlehem of old.

Love gives all, and truly this is the Sacrament of Divine Love, for he visits us to give to us his whole Self for our food and sustenance.

There are many who ignore his Visitation altogether; as long ago, so now, he comes to his own and his own receive him not.  Yet to the faithful communicant he gives his all, out of pure love.  And as we make our preparation beforehand we too wonder, “Why is this happening to me, me who am so unworthy of him in every way?”

But come he does in spite of that, and therefore it is for us at least to give him a loving welcome.  He came to Elizabeth’s house that day for peace.  He comes to us also to find peace within our hearts; and peace means no dark corners where sin lurks.  It means that all is clean and fresh and unashamed.

That is why self-examination is so important a part of our preparation before Communion.  For before Christ comes to visit the humble dwelling of our heart as we kneel at his Altar, we must have made ourselves ready for him by searching every part of that dwelling, uncovering and turning out all those cherished thoughts or acts which like to remain snug and undisturbed; bringing all our sins before him and pleading for his forgiveness.

And even when our souls have been made clean and fresh, we still come to his Altar with these words on our lips, “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only and my soul shall be healed”.

Then, when Our Blessed Lord visits us and finds a home within our soul which is as well and as lovingly prepared for him as we can make it, then we echo Mary’s words with meaning and understanding: My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God – my Saviour.