Meeting ID: 815 0755 1772
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Music: Lauren Daigel—Let It Be A Hallelujah https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BvfPK0gCdUc
Reading I Luke 1:39-45
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 the One to come 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 would be fulfilled."
Quiet Reflection: What dream deep within you is awaiting to be announced?
(pause)
Reading II Reflection by Sarah O’Brien
The Visitation is the name given to the visit Mary pays her cousin Elizabeth just after Mary has said to the angel Gabriel, “May it be done to me according to your word,” and is newly pregnant with God Incarnate. Elizabeth is an older woman, but also miraculously pregnant with St. John the Baptist. It’s a gathering of power-house players in salvation history, all present together in two bodies as these women greet each other with joy. John leaps in Elizabeth’s belly, and she is filled with the Holy Spirit when she hears Mary’s greeting. She shouts, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” and helps make real for Mary all that has just happened and is happening inside her body. And Mary then breaks into song, praising God. Like she’s been given permission to feel all the feels about this now.
Reading III Visitation Villanelle Poem by Sarah O’Brien
She came to me, the mother . . .
and grinned with amazement at the sight.
All creation with me seemed to roar.
Grey haired, belly swollen like a gourd,
I stood to kiss her in the morning light.
She came to me, the mother . . .
Her voice, as she crossed the threshold of my door,
rang through my womb – from a great height,
all creation with me seemed to roar.
The baby leapt – tethered only by the cord.
The joy coursing through us! I shouted outright.
She came to me, the mother. . .
Already she faced her share of the sword
She who believed all God said would be, might –
All creation with me seemed to roar.
Blessed one! With your yes you moved us toward
the home we long for, and all things made right.
She came to me, the mother. . .
All creation with me seemed to roar.
Closing: Blessed one! With your yes you moved us toward
the home we long for, and all things made right.
May we move forward filled with hopes and dreams for the possibilities we are called to give birth to.
Music: Quincy Jones—Hallelujah Instrumental
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SQx5w6q2s6c
Sarah O’Brien
(https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/an-uplifting-poem-for-the-feast-of-the-visitation?hs_amp=true)
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