Join Msgr. Don Fischer as he reads and delivers a short reflection on today’s gospel, followed by 3 1/2 minutes of contemplative music and a closing prayer. Msgr. Don hopes that today’s reflection on the gospel will empower you to carry the Word in your heart throughout the day.

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Gospel
Luke 1:39-56

Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
"Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”

And Mary said:

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel\
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever."

Mary remained with her about three months
and then returned to her home.

Reflection

Mary represents so many things, but one of the things I’d like you to focus on is she is the forerunner, the one who set the tone for the miracle that would happen to all of us that happened to her, that in some mysterious way God would be born in our hearts.

The Incarnation is the heart of the teaching of Jesus. Mary said yes when this miracle was proposed to her. Yet it meant that she would be in a situation that would be dangerous to her well-being. We have to have the same courage to accept the truth that when God enters into you and into me, there will be changes.

There will be a new way of seeing the world. And that gift, like the gift that Mary received, has to be accepted and believed in. Mary's belief is what makes her so important, believed in something that couldn't happen. And that's what we need to believe in, that God is in us.

Closing prayer.

When you entered the world through Mary, you changed the world. When you enter into us, you empower us to change the world. Help us to believe in this gift and believe in its ability to accomplish what it's sent to accomplish. To bring people out of darkness into the light. Out of slavery. Into freedom. Out of death. Into life. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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