[Salvation]

Magnificat

 

by Food For Thought on December 23, 2012 · 

The Gospel reading says that on hearing Mary’s greeting to Elizabeth, the child in Elizabeth’s womb leapt for joy. Mary and Elizabeth’s encounter was a sharing of joy. Each had her own reason for a great happiness but thought of the other’s happiness. Joy that is shared is doubled. It was a special joy because it found its source in God. Wherever Mary goes, she provokes an explosion of joy like at the wedding in Cana. In today’s Gospel, the baby leaps for joy. Elizabeth shouts her joy at being visited by the Lord in Mary’s womb, and in Mary’s Magnificat the poor exult for joy because their liberation is close at hand.

Mary is proclaimed blessed by Elizabeth because she believed that the promise made to her by the Lord would be fulfilled. God made so many promises to the chosen people of Israel through the prophets. But when their fulfillment was delayed, the people doubted the word of the Lord. They preferred to place their trust in themselves and in their plans and it ended in total failure. Mary instead is blessed because she trusted God. She was sure that in spite of all appearances to the contrary, the word of the Lord would be fulfilled.

Maybe our communities and all of us today could be called blessed because we have believed the word of the Lord. Let us try to question ourselves, for instance, if we are really convinced that the promises God made in the Beatitudes to the peacemakers, the non-violent, those who offer the other cheek, those who do not seek vengeance, will really be fulfilled. Perhaps we do believe in God but maybe only to a certain point especially when God asks us to do something that goes against human common sense. Mary is teaching us that it is worthwhile to place our trust in the Lord; not just when it suits us or occasionally but always. Perhaps in these next few days before Christmas, we need to ask ourselves: “Where are we going to find him, the Messiah, the expected Savior? Is it on the surface of life?

As one family, let us prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord in faith, in simplicity, in humility and in availability. Christmas is a family feast. Let us learn to give up our inflexibility and stubbornness and be good to one another. Forgive one another and do our share in creating a hearty atmosphere in our home. Give God all the chances of becoming human in our home, in our family, in the union of our married partnership, in the oneness between parents and children. So many things can become signs of our availability and of God’s graciousness. All these signs combine to become the sacrament of our Christmas this year: God becomes man and He becomes human among us, in our homes, our hearts, our community and in our world.

[Salvation]

Catholic Exchange

For the 4th Sunday of Advent: Mary’s Faith

by Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D. on December 21, 2012 · 

The Beatitudes rank high on the list of all-time favorite Bible passages.  But what is “beatitude,” anyway?   In the Bible, a “blessed” person is someone who has received gifts of the greatest value, gifts that lead to true fulfillment and lasting happiness.

If I were to ask you to name the first beatitude, you’d probably say “blessed be the poor in Spirit.”  According to St. Matthew’s gospel you’d be right, but not according to Luke.  At the very beginning of his gospel, Luke reveals that the very first beatitude is uttered by a woman filled with the Spirit, speaking of another woman overshadowed by the Spirit.  Elizabeth says, “Blessed is she who has believed.” (Luke 1: 45).

Is Marian devotion important in Christian life?  This has been a bone of contention between Catholics and Protestants for nearly 500 years.

Let’s look at the evidence in just the first chapter of Luke.  First, the Angel Gabriel honors her with the greeting “Hail, full of grace” (Luke 1:29).  Then Elizabeth prophesies “blessed are you among women.”  Next the prophet John leaps for joy in his mother’s womb at the sound of Mary’s voice.  Then, in her response to Elizabeth, Mary prophesies “all generations will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48).

But it is Elizabeth’s final words to Mary that provide the key to understanding why Mary is to honored, namely, her faith.

One of the battle-cries of the Protestant Reformation was “Faith Alone!”  One key conviction that united the many disparate strands of the Reformation was that it is impossible to earn God’s favor by our good works . . . that we rather we receive his love as a pure gift, a grace, through faith.

Now consider Mary.  Did she crisscross the Mediterranean planting Churches like Paul?  Did she give eloquent sermons like Stephen (Acts 7)?  Did she govern the Church like Peter?  No.  Her claim to fame is that she simply said yes to God.  She believed He could do as he said and would do as He said.

But true faith is not just intellectual conviction that God exists or that He can do thus and such.  Faith involves entrusting oneself, abandoning oneself to God, willing to submit to his will.  That’s why Paul talks about “the obedience of faith” (Romans 16:26).  Mary surrendered her plan for her life, and yielded to God’s plan.  And she did this not once, but again and again, even when he left her behind to begin his public ministry.  And when that ministry led to the horror of Calvary, Mary’s faith stood its ground at the foot of the cross.

So Catholics honor Mary for being the perfect example of the greatest Protestant virtue.  Ironic isn’t it?  And the deepest meaning of that disputed doctrine, the Immaculate Conception, is that it was the grace of God working mysteriously from the moment of her conception that made possible Mary’s exemplary life of faith.  Even her faith is a gift of His grace.  It’s all grace, according to Catholic doctrine.

Mary, of course, knew this.  That’s why she responded to Elizabeth’s praise with the humble, exuberant prayer known as the Magnificat: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”  She is like the crystal-clear pool that reflects the sun’s rays back to the heavens.  So no one needs to fear that honor given her will detract from the majesty of her divine Son.  She deflects all the praise given her right back to God, the source of her greatness.

So the answer is that Marian devotion is necessary in Christian life.  But what is true devotion to Mary according to the fathers of the Second Vatican Council?  Not sentimental piety or gullible preoccupation with every rumored apparition, but rather, imitation of her virtues, particularly her faith (Lumen Gentium 67).