Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (2025)

This is the time of year when many people start thinking about taking a vacation or a trip.

The school year just ended here yesterday.

If not vacation so maybe – staycation, I’ve learned recently the new English word.

And even that can be good.

We begin to look around. Parks. Nature.

Maybe even that new Epic Park in Orlando—although good luck getting tickets.

But maybe… maybe this time of year is also a moment to take another kind of trip.

A trip that’s not about places, but about people.

To visit someone who is alone. Forgotten. Waiting.

We don’t know if Mary ever had a vacation.

Honestly, it’s hard to imagine.

But we know that she took a journey.

And not just any journey.

Today we celebrate it.

The Church gives us a whole feast to remember one trip: the Visitation.

Why?

Because Mary went.

She didn’t stay. She didn’t look at her calendar. She didn’t say, “I’ll pray for Elizabeth.”

No. The Gospel says: She set out with haste.

Mary was 15.

We do not know how she traveled—alone or maybe in a caravan—nearly 100 miles.

From Nazareth to the hill country of Judea.

Just imagine that: Days of walking. Rocky roads. Danger. Uncertainty.

When we think of the Blessed Mother, we often picture someone gentle, kind, and quiet.

A woman of few words, filled with deep faith and boundless trust.

And that’s true.

But this Feast shows us another side of Mary:

She was also a woman of action.

She didn’t wait.

She didn’t say, “I’ll keep Elizabeth in my prayers.”

The Gospel tells us that immediately after the Annunciation, she set out with haste into the hill country.

The Greek word used here for “haste” is σπουδή (spoudé)—a word that means not just speed, but also eagerness, diligence, enthusiasm, and zeal.

Interestingly, the same word σπουδή is used in another Gospel story—though in a very different context.

It’s used to describe the daughter of Herodias, who danced before King Herod.

He promised her anything—even half his kingdom.

And what did she ask for?

The Gospel says:

“Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, ‘I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.’” (Mark 6:25, NRSVCE)

Look. Two women.

Two acts of σπουδή—haste, zeal, urgency.

One moved by love and the Holy Spirit.

The other was moved by manipulation and vengeance.

This Feast reminds us what true zeal looks like.

It’s not just about acting quickly—

It’s about acting out of love, for the sake of another.

Mary shows us what holy urgency truly is.

Acting with Love and Recognizing the needs of others.