{"id":1467,"date":"2007-05-31T08:53:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-31T08:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2007\/05\/may-31-2007-the-visitation.html"},"modified":"2007-05-31T08:53:00","modified_gmt":"2007-05-31T08:53:00","slug":"may-31-2007-the-visitation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/05\/may-31-2007-the-visitation.html","title":{"rendered":"May 31, 2007: The Visitation"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>
Christianity is a religion that grew on its feet. From Jesus, who walked from town to town\u2026to the apostles, who journeyed into the farthest reaches of the Roman Empire\u2026to missionaries who ventured into uncharted, often dangerous territory to spread the gospel\u2026Christianity has been a movement spread<\/i> by movement. <\/p>\n

Today we celebrate the very first incidence of that: The Visitation. To my mind, this is probably the first great act of Christian evangelization — the first time the good news was proclaimed from one person to another. And, like so many other missionaries, Mary did it at great personal risk. <\/p>\n

Here a teenage girl, pregnant, without a husband, with no way of supporting herself, leaves the comfort of her home town to go and bring The Word \u2013 literally \u2013 to someone else. According to the laws of her own day, as a pregnant unwed woman, she could be stoned to death. But she goes anyway, out of great charity and great joy. <\/p>\n

And that joy is expressed in her beautiful prayer, The Magnificat. \u201cMy soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior.\u201d Those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours, as more lay people do today, know that prayer well. It\u2019s prayed every evening, in celebration of what God has done for us \u2013 just as Mary did, the first time it was spoken. <\/p>\n

On this beautiful feast, which closes the month named for and dedicated to our Lady, it is worth asking ourselves: how are we keeping the spirit of The Visitation alive? Are we willing to leave our comfort zones to proclaim the good news? How are we, like Mary, striving to bring Jesus to others? <\/p>\n

We hear a lot today about the New Evangelization. But on the Feast of The Visitation we are reminded of the FIRST evangelization \u2013 an act that grew out of charity, generosity, and joy. I think those are the elements of any<\/i> evangelization. <\/p>\n

If we carry them with us when we walk out those doors today, we will truly \u2013 like Mary \u2013 be bringing The Word to the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christianity is a religion that grew on its feet. From Jesus, who walked from town to town\u2026to the apostles, who journeyed into the farthest reaches of the Roman Empire\u2026to missionaries who ventured into uncharted, often dangerous territory to spread the gospel\u2026Christianity has been a movement spread by movement. 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