Thursday, December 9, 2010

The Magnificat

"My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name."

Lovely words in themselves ... right? I'm sure at moments of happiness and peace, almost all of us can muster up either these words or their equivalent depending on our belief system. But ... can you imagine the strength, the courage, the faith, to utter them at perhaps one of our lowest or scariest moments? Mary, Mother of Jesus, recites this, the Magnificat, upon learning she is pregnant with the Christ Child. Now, this in itself is wonderful news ... but picture the realities in this world, in terms of what this otherwise-magnificent news would lead her to face. Young, single, unexpectedly pregnant in the last century BCE/first century CE ... risking the loss of her fiance, the potential loss of any hope of a future respectable marriage, bringing perceived shame to herself and her family ... yet then ... even then, she was able to praise God, and steel herself to face the enormous task ahead. Just food for Advent thought ...

Mary did you know, when you kiss your little baby
You kiss the face of God?

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