Contemplation of the Magnificat

First, I wanted to say a sad goodbye to my friend Lenora P. Blouin who is pictured with me in the profile picture for this blog.  May she rest in peace!  She was an amazing bibliographer of May Sarton's works and made such a marvelous impression on me when I was invited to speak at the Sarton Centennial in York, Maine a few years back.  She will be missed.

The fourth Sunday of Advent is one of my favorite Sundays of the year because it focuses on the Virgin Mary and her beautiful poem and vision of the kingdom, the Magnificat (found in the Gospel of St. Luke).  One of the most beautifully inspired pieces of Scripture, this song moves me every time I read and reflect on it.  I wanted to share some of those reflections here.

Mary was not one to raise herself up, but she does not diminish herself either.  While she praises God for his "greatness," she recognizes her own lowliness: "my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;/for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant."  She allows God's choice to lift her, as she tells us that "from this day all generations will call me blessed" because God has raised her.  She links this insight into a key observation that "He has mercy on those who fear him/in every generation."  Her witness is one of humility and insight, not self-denigration.  She is not a woman who fits easily into heterosexist schemes of patriarchal domination; in fact, I would say be very suspicious of any Christian (man) who refers to her as "just a woman," for that is a pretty good sign that s/he does not respect or build women up in his ministry.  In fact, I would leave a church that referred to Mary this way.  She is to be called "blessed," adored, not denigrated or reduced.

The next lines of the Magnificat accentuate Mary's position in God and her relevance; there, she refers to God "scatter[ing]...the proud in their conceit" with the "strength of his arm."  God is at work here; what he does he does through us and are agency, guided by Him and His Spirit.  Mary teaches us that a just society "cast[s] dow the mighty from their thrones" and "lift[s] up the lowly."  Our politics are not in line with the kingdom when we work against the poor and the lowly and our connectedness with the world, and instead vote in line with the rich (or worse vote as if we were or intend to be rich; remember, Christ tells us that "the love of  money is the root of all kinds of evil.") And, yes, Christ also says that his kingdom is not of this world, but note that those statements (see Luke and John) are made to the Pharisees and normally refer to taking up arms to protect him when he is bound for the cross to propitiate for our sinfulness. The fact that the kingdom will not be fully realized in this world does not let us off the hook for ethical action.  As our wonderful presiding bishop Michael Curry recently stated, "Jesus came to show us the way out of the darkness, into the dream." As our bishop William Franklin reflects in a recent email, "God's dream, Bishop Curry said, is to reorder the way things are, to turn the world upside down.  To create a world without war or suffering, without injustice and bigotry, without violence and hatred.  A world ruled by love.  A world where we really do do unto others as we would have them do unto us."  In this email, Bishop Franklin takes this one step further, noting the error many Americans (and non-Americans) make: "Some people turn their backs on the exhausted and traumatized Syrian refugees who are fleeing war in their own nation, viewing them all as potential terrorists. We have the instinctive reaction to pull up the drawbridges, circle the wagons and say that there is no room in the inn. There is no small irony that at the same time, we celebrate the Holy Family, homeless refugees in the Middle East fleeing a vindictive ruler."  Mary's song can guide us to the way to a better (Christian) ethics.

The next lines of the Magnificat show us what our ethics should be when she sings that the Father through Christ and His followers "has filled the hungry with good things;/ and the rich he hath sent away empty."  Oh, if only we could vote in such a manner and practice our faith in such a manner that this were true, that humility and knowledge would guide the political process, and not machismo and wealth!  A president like our current one has been a model of the kind of leader we need in the public realm, a witness that superpowers need not be bullies (although he too has bullied some; it is hard not too when there is so much power in one country's hands!) but can be guides and can admit mistakes and correct them!

This is the vision, the promise that is made to us through Christ and that compels us not to think of ourselves but others as we vote, as we act, as we share this Advent and Christmas seasons and into the new year as well.  God has come to help his servants, for "he has remembered his promise of mercy," a promise initially given to Israel but extended through Christ (and St. Paul) to the whole world.  We can rest and also act from this "promise" expressed in the Magnificat that God through Christ (and Mary) made "to Abraham and his children forever."  Amen, and have a blessed Holiday (the word comes from "holy day") season.