My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
The Magnificat is the song of thanksgiving of who knew where she was situated within salvation history, one full of faith, steeped in Scripture. She sang this song of thanksgiving even before the miraculous birth of her son. It was still far from obvious that God had indeed done the things for which Mary praised him: showing strength, scattering the proud, casting down the mighty, or sending the rich away empty. Yet Mary perceived by faith that these things were already as good as realized with the conception of Jesus, or even before that in the eternal plan of God.
Mary recognized that God had acted toward her in a way that was characteristic of his action in every generation. Yet that action was not just another instance of similar stories such as that of Hannah. It was a pinnacle, peak, or apex. Hannah had received a special mercy from the Lord because she feared him. But the mercy unleashed through Mary would redeem the world. Through her child all those who were lowly would be lifted from the deepest afflictions of sin and death. God had miraculously fed others in the past, but through the son of Mary he would provide the entire world with the bread of life.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones
and has lifted up the lowly.
We must be clear that it was not obvious to the purely secular or rational observer that any of this had taken place. But it was nevertheless what Mary and Elizabeth celebrated together, and the cause of their great joy. Their faith in the promises of God allowed them to reach out and receive the blessings of a future not yet come even then and there.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Mary knew that the promise to Abraham was not for her alone. The Magnificat is meant to be an invitation for us to recognize, as she did, the marvels God has done, and to see our lives situated in salvation history as she did. We are not alone and isolated, forced to struggle to give meaning to our own existence. We are each of us individually willed by God, chosen to be heirs to the same promises in which Mary rejoiced. We are all too ready to complain about the things which Mary, for her part, regarded as already over and past. If we learn to embrace the posture she taught, that of humility and holy fear, she can teach us to sing the Magnificat, and by doing so, to begin to dwell already in the new world to come by faith, just as she did.
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