Today we start the month of May which is dedicated to Mary. May is a time of Easter joy. May is a time of beauty where spring is in full swing with all the new flowers starting to bloom and the leaves of the trees have painted everything green again. We just had our May crowing of the image of May with a beautiful crown of flowers. The arrival of May also means that June is just a few weeks away. Ahhh, June, the end of classes and the end of the school year! I want to start today with a question. I believe I asked you this question several months ago. So, let’s see how many remember the question and the answer. Why go to school? Why spend so much time with books and learning when the season has changed to warm, beautiful green spring? Why not just play outside all day? Many of you say that learning and school is based on personal plans and being able to get a job to become rich and famous. But for a true Christian learning is necessary to be able to understand God’s Word and to be able to serve other. We all have to have some sort of trade or profession in order to manage our lives and a family. But overall, a Christian learns a trade or profession to be able to serve God and other.
Mary is a constant example of service of us. When God presents to her his plan for the birth of the savior with her as the mother, she sets aside all her doubts and fears to serve God’s plan. When she learns that her older cousin Elizabeth is pregnant, Mary eagerly goes to serve Elizabeth for several months. Mary, who has just started her own pregnancy, should have dedicated that time to taking care of herself. But we see in Mary a young woman who was completely open to being guided by the Holy Spirit and the needs of others.
The Gospel says that she went “in haste” to her cousin Elizabeth. She did not wait to start her time of service, nor did she put it off to another day or another time in her life. Once she knew that Elizabeth needed her, she dropped all her own plans and went to her cousins as quickly as possible. Even though travel at that time in Israel was difficult and dangerous, she went.
The culture we live in today teaches us to focus on ourselves, our perceived needs, and our personal plans. We are all infected by that me culture. We all tend to think and act as if the rest of the world exists just for me and to serve me. I’m number one. We all tend to organize our life at home with the family, our life in school, and our life in our neighborhood based on our own needs. We only think and plan based on ourselves.
In the first reading today, St Paul calls us to abandon that form of life. He calls us to eagerly follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit to serve God. Eager service – that’s what Mary did. Everything that Mary had learned and knew how to do, she gave to God to be the mother of our savior. She also took everything that she knew and put it to service of her cousin Elizabeth who needed help.
Here we are in the middle of spring again and close to the end of the school year. Take some time to ask yourself what you are doing with all that you have learned. Do you take time to abandon yourself and use your time and energy to help others? Are you a sign of joyful service to others? It’s spring, the time of change and beauty. Go do something beautiful this week with all that you have and all that you have learned. Spread Mary’s beautiful crown by forgetting about yourself and serving others.
Never give up.
Eagerly follow the Holy spirit and serve the Lord.
Image: CANVA CJ Dunn 26April2026 AI generated.