Friday May 31, 2024 - Good News Ministries

Good News Reflections:
Making scripture meaningful to your daily life
by Terry Modica

“Jesus is the True Source of your victory, even during your most painful and frightening moments.”

Good News Reflection for:

Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
May 31, 2024

Today’s Prayer:

Beloved Lord, thank You for giving us our Blessed Mother Mary to take us to Your Son Jesus. May we always receive her with joy, because in her Your love dwells. Amen.

Subscribe to Today’s Saint Quote & Prayer:
gnm.org/SaintQuotes/

Today’s Readings:

Zephaniah 3:14-18a or Romans 12:9-16
Isaiah 12:2-3,4b-6
Luke 1:39-56
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/053124.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-may-31-2024

The guarantee of victory

The reading from Zephaniah for the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary can be used in meditation as a personal message from the Lord. It’s encouraging and uplifting and reassuring, not only because it promises victory over our troubles, but also because it says that God himself sings joyfully about you! Imagine that!

Why does God sing? And why so full of joy? Because he gets really excited when we persist through our difficulties and rely on his help to reach the kind of victory that Jesus provides rather than quit early and seek the easy way out, the worldly way that might feel right at the time but which harms our relationships with others and with the God of Love.

When you pray, is Jesus full of joy? Or do you picture him as somber or stern (because a lot of church artwork depicts him this way)? Look up the word “joy” with an online bible search tool. It far outnumbers the times when God is unhappy.

Joy is one of God’s main attributes. It’s one of the fruits of living in the will of God, a blessing from the Holy Spirit. Thus, we can sing with Isaiah in today’s responsorial: “My strength and my courage is the Lord…”. With joy we draw refreshing water from Christ’s fountain of salvation. This is the victory that Jesus provides.

With the Blessed Mother, whose Feast of the Visitation we celebrate today, we can sing her song in the Gospel reading: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant…the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.”

For many years, I have made this “Magnificat” part of my prayer life, like so: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he who is almighty has done great things for me, and IS DOING great things for me, and WILL do great things for me — and through me — and holy is his Name.” This prayer helps me to praise God in difficulties.

No matter how bad things seem, no matter how bleak or disastrous our trials appear to be, God does look with favor upon us, simply because he knows our desire to handle the challenges the Christian way, even though we sin from time to time. “He has mercy on those who fear him. He has shown the strength of his arm … “

Mary knows what it’s like to endure rejection and false accusations, discomfort and danger, and the heart-wrenching ordeal of watching a loved one suffer. Did she sing her Magnificat while hiding in Egypt? Did she remember it while Jesus hung on the cross?

Even if the words were not on her lips, the truth of those verses from 1 Samuel 2:1-8 (the original source of the Magnificat) remained in her heart. She knew the True Source of victory.

Whenever you ask Mary to pray for you, she visits you. She invites you to rediscover the joy of the Lord: Jesus is the True Source of your victory, even during your most painful and frightening moments.

Reflect more on this using our Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary @ https://gnm-media.org/joyful-mysteries-of-the-rosary/.

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