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The Forward Day by Day Meditation for May 31, 2023

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WEDNESDAY, May 31 THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Luke 1:41-42. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”

Long before the Day of Pentecost, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is undeniably present throughout the Old Testament, hovering over the abyss at the beginning of creation and offering Wisdom to all who seek her. The Spirit even comes upon people, enabling them to preach or to prophesy. But Elizabeth is the first to be filled with the Spirit, the first to experience that indwelling presence that radiates from out of her being into the world around her. And this Spirit-filled woman’s first proclamation is powerful. This unlikely mother-to-be affirms that an even more unlikely mother-to-be, her young cousin standing before her, has been set aside for a special purpose.

Elizabeth is an example for all of us who seek to be led by the Spirit. As Spirit fills her and pours out of her, she speaks in love. She offers words of hope and encouragement. She calls forth things that Mary is only beginning to understand.

MOVING FORWARD: Holy Spirit, teach us how to build up one another.

PRAY for the Diocese of Tasmania (Australia)

Today the Church remembers .

Ps 113 | 1 Samuel 2:1-10 | Romans 12:9-16b | Luke 1:39-57