“And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.’
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.” Luke 1:46-56
In the book, Expecting Emmanuel, Eight Women Who Prepared the Way, author Joanna Harader, writes,
“…Mary goes beyond even what ‘was spoken to her by the Lord’ – or at least what we heard spoken to her. She believes the promise and she understands what the promise will mean for the world. With this deep understanding of Gabriel’s words, Mary sings of the revolutionary scope of God’s promise being realized through the incarnation: the powerful will be cast down and the lowly lifted up; the hungry will be fed and the rich set away empty. As she bears Jesus in her body, she lives the fact of God’s past-tense activity (Jesus’ conception) that signals an already-here but not-yet-fully-realized liberation.”
“…One of the deep gifts of Mary’s song is that it holds all time together in the sacred space of the incarnation. It reminds us that the Might One, embodied in Jesus, is our beginning and our end, the Alpha and Omega, the one who was and is and is to come.”
“ …as we prepare for the coming of the Christ child, may our hearts, like Mary’s, magnify our God!”
by Dr. Paula Artac
May I live as Your servant. May I be truly humble before You and others. May I use well the opportunities and gifts You place in my hands, serving You and others for Your glory. May I seek after what really matters, offering myself to You in every facet of life. Amen.