By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily during the Mass for the 100th anniversary of the community of Vietnamese Sisters, the Daughters of Our Lady of Visitation, at their convent in Lauderhill May 27, 2024.
Today we anticipate the feast of the Visitation of Mary, which was just described for us in the Gospel reading, we see exemplified the sublime greatness of Mary. Before worrying about herself, Mary instead thought about elderly Elizabeth, who she knew was well on in her pregnancy, and moved by the mystery of love that she had just welcomed within herself, she set out "in haste" to go to offer Elizabeth her help.
These sisters of the Visitation also conclude their celebration of the Jubilee of their founding. We see in your lives that same generosity of spirit that led Mary to Elizabeth’s side, not thinking of herself but of her cousin and her needs.
Mary proclaimed with her whole life what she had replied to the angel at Nazareth: “I am the handmaid of the Lord.” Mary’s life has been a gift of self to God and to neighbor. And now Mary in heaven carries out a ministry of intercession on our behalf - ever in communion with her Son.
“Blessed are you among women,” Elizabeth tells Mary. Yet, Mary remains the humble maiden of Nazareth: She is not weighed down by pride or selfishness. She never forgets that she is the handmaid of the Lord, nor does she forget the gratuitous goodness of God. That we, too, might not forget, the Church entrusts to us her canticle of praise, the Magnificat, which we pray every evening at vespers.
Only by accepting God’s love and making of our existence a selfless and generous service to our neighbor can we joyfully lift a song of praise to the Lord. This evening, these sisters lift up their own song of praise to the Lord. Your vows - poverty, chastity, and obedience, - is a “Magnificat” expressed not only in song but also in your daily lives as Sisters of the Visitation.
May the Eucharist - during which we are privileged to gaze upon the face of the Lord and to have communion in his Body and Blood - affirm you and strengthen you in your resolve to give up everybody and everything to embrace Christ and His Gospel.
Consecrated life is a witness to the search for God. Religious life is not about the seeking of self but rather the seeking of God. The only reason for this choice in life is to seek to know his will, to build a community of brothers and sisters in which God is sought after and loved before all else.
In the world, we see people who are concerned with their own autonomy, people jealous of their freedom, people fearful of losing their independence. In such a world, as religious sisters, you are - and you must be - signs of contradiction. Your existence - in the world but not of the world - points to the possibility of a different way of fulfillment of one’s life, “a way where God is the goal, his Word the light, and his will the guide, where consecrated persons move along peacefully in the certainty of being sustained by the hands of a Father who welcomes and provides, where they are accompanied by brothers and sisters, moved by the same Spirit, who wants to and knows how to satisfy the desires and longings sown by the Father in the heart of each one.”
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord." Mary recognizes God's greatness. This is the first indispensable sentiment of faith. It is the sentiment that gives security to human creatures and frees them from fear, even in the midst of the tempest of history.
Going beyond the surface, Mary "sees" the work of God in history with the eyes of faith. She is blessed because she believed. By faith, in fact, she accepted the Word of the Lord and conceived the Incarnate Word. Her faith has shown her that the thrones of the powerful of this world are temporary, while God's throne is the only rock that does not change or fall.
With the eyes of faith, we also can see the work of God in the history of this community of consecrated women. Mary’s example of readiness and generosity in the service of others, seen in her visitation of Elizabeth, is to be imitated by your generous gift of self to God and to your neighbor.
As the Second Vatican Council taught, Mary is the Mother of the Church and is therefore the model for us as we try to live our Christian vocation in the world. And so, on this Jubilee of the Sisters of the Visitation, we pray with them and we pray for them invoking the powerful intercession of Mary, “Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided.”
