Forward Movement is an official, non-profit agency of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to create compelling content for Christian living. Since 1935 we have published the quarterly devotional Forward Day by Day, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and books that encourage and nourish people in their lives of prayer and faith.
MONDAY, May 31 The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Luke 1:39-57. My soul magnifies the Lord.
Mary's willing obedience to God brought her intense pain and unutterable joy. Centuries of Christian piety can be a stumbling block to a true appreciation of her courageous "yes" to God. A young peasant girl from the backwater of Galilee, engaged but not yet married to Joseph, became pregnant and undoubtedly suffered the shame and humiliation of slanderous misunder-standing. Her song of joy, the Magnificat, is a daring expression of faith and hope in God, who turns normal expectations upside down.
Mary is among the anwim, the poor for whom God especially has compassion. Saint Luke records numerous stories of people in this category--lepers, children, women, Samaritans--all of whom are powerless. The song captures a vision of hope, the expectation that however oppressive the present may seem, the strong do not have the last word. Mary, who raised Jesus during his formative years and then watched him slip away from her as his vocation took him toward the cross, embraced life with all its ambiguity. All generations, including our own, rightly call her blessed. (1989)
PRAY for the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf (Middle East)
Ps 113; 1 Samuel 2:1-10; Romans 12:9-16b
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