On the feast of the Visitation, the Church celebrates the day when Mary met her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with St. John the Baptist, after the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary. The journey is sometimes referred to as the first Eucharistic pilgrimage because Mary carried Christ in her womb.
This year, the feast of the Visitation carries additional significance: it falls on May 31, the final day that the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage (NEP) will be in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis before it continues its journey to Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21.
Father Michael Van Sloun, director of clergy personnel and a columnist for The Catholic Spirit, joined “Practicing Catholic” host Patrick Conley on the May 31 show to discuss the feast.
The journey Mary took from Nazareth to Judah, where Elizabeth lived, would have been arduous, Father Van Sloun said, stretching over 85 miles of hilly terrain. Mary might have traveled on foot, by donkey or in a cart. Mary’s willingness to undertake the difficult journey holds a spiritual lesson, Father Van Sloun said.
“It says in the Gospel that she (Mary) went in haste, there was no delay. And she teaches us something very powerful, that when it comes to God and our service and God’s invitations to us, we should do it immediately. There’s no time to waste. We need to respond right away when God calls to us.”
“There’s a huge spiritual message here,” Father Van Sloun said. “If we become aware of somebody who is in need, are we willing to leave where we are to respond to them? Would you go to the next room in your house? … Would you go to another state?”
Fr. Van Sloun said that St. Luke describes Mary’s womb in language that is meant to remind us of the Ark of the Covenant.
“The Ark of the Covenant kept the most precious and holiest things for the people of Israel, and when they had it in procession, David, as a young man, went in front of it, and he danced and he leaped for joy in front of the Ark of the Covenant,” Father Van Sloun said, refering to a passage in the Second Book of Samuel.
“What’s going on is that John the Baptist is leaping like David … not because of the symbolic presence of God, but because of the real presence of God. And not in front of an Ark of the Covenant of the Old Testament, but in front of Mary, who is really, literally (and) beautifully the Ark of the Covenant.”
To hear more about Mary’s journey to Elizabeth and what the Visitation might foreshadow in the Gospel, tune into the “Practicing Catholic” episode that debuts at 9 p.m. May 31 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. June 1 and 2 p.m. June 2.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the program also includes a discussion with Jason Adkins, the executive director and general counsel of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, who recaps this year’s legislative session.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
