6th Week of Easter : Saturday 31st May 2025

Here is a timeless song of joy. “Rejoice and exult with

all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, He has cast out your enemies” (v14-15). From judgements of Jerusalem to proclamation of hope, Zephaniah reproached and also reassured the people of God’s final intervention to remove their guilt and oppressors. The prophet Zephaniah implanted a timeless hope in the people’s hearts.

Hence, today’s Visitation Feast, as depicted in Luke, is a fulfilment of the prophecy in Zephaniah, where God’s presence and joy are manifest in the world. The seemingly endless waiting has come to an end. It is a joyous connection for the people in waiting with the ancient promise of God coming into their midst. And Mary, exchanging greetings with Elizabeth, fulfilled the deepest joys of the daughters in Jerusalem. From the barren womb of Elizabeth to the deepest core of woman in Mary’s soul, this joy had safely dwelt and sanctified the unspoken spaces. Indeed, her Magnificat must shape the interior disposition of all people. “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,

{..} for He Who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name” (47-49). Mary’s magnificat calls us to magnify the Lord and His wonders in our lives, not the petty issues of spitefulness. This mystery of the Visitation calls us to revisit attitudes that need revision, for God waits to enter into our lives with joy.

Lord, visit us at home, at work and amplify our joy.