"Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me" (Luke 1:43)? In the gospel event that we call the visitation, these words are Elizabeth's response to a visit from her cousin Mary. The pregnant and elderly Elizabeth doesn't give a self-centered response: "Where were you? It's about time" but "How did I ever deserve this?" Elizabeth receives the gift of Mary's time and effort as an unexpected, most welcome kindness, a gift.
Daily life offers all of us opportunities to give generously and also to receive with gratitude and joy what others give. In our day phone calls and letters as well as convenient mobility make it possible for us to bring consolation, light, even some excitement to the lives of the lonely, the ill, the neglected, the suffering in any way. Yet with so many technology-enhanced opportunities for communication and contact, we still plead "no time." Visitation in some form or other of those who would benefit from it is a snap for us today compared to what it was in Mary's time. What keeps us from doing more of it? Perhaps it's our lack of identification with the selflessness of Christ, something He learned at least partly from His mother.
Interesting take, no? Technology affords us more and easier communication than ever before in history. But do we actually take advantage of it and communicate more, or less?
What busy, lonely lives we lead.
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