Sunday, December 15, 2013

Anonoymous

Canticle 15

The Song of Mary: The Magnificat

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Devotional

Canticle 15, the Magnificat, Mary’s song.

This is Mary’s incredible response to God after being chosen to become the God-bearer.

God’s message to Mary and to us has two parts—affirmation and expectation. Because Mary is beloved by God, because she has found favor in God’s eyes, God has a plan for her. It is an astonishing plan: never mind the angel in the living room, never mind the impossible conception, never mind the fact that this child will grow up to be king. God has just asked a teenager to bring salvation into the world! All of us should stand in awe of this moment. What perhaps should bring us to our knees is that Mary says yes. God does not enter her by force. God waits for her simple and powerfully spoken ascent, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” God did not choose a teenager to bear salvation to the world by accident. Who else would agree to such a plan? While the coming of Jesus Christ in a virgin’s womb is the unrepeatable mystery of God, God invites all of us to become God bearers—persons who by the power of the Holy Spirit smuggle Jesus into the world through our own lives, who by virtue of our yes to God find ourselves forever and irrevocably changed.” We become like Mary, we too are loved by God, we have found favor in God’s eyes, therefore God has a plan for us. As with Mary, ministry does not end with her transformation, it begins.

I invite you to click on this link and listen to Breathe of Heaven before continuing reading the reflection.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW2OBT-5qfc

We stand in awe of Mary’s wisdom and courage at such a young age. Every time I hear this story, I pray that I can set aside those things in my life that keep me from responding as she did. Mary gives us a glimpse of the ministry that will be fulfilled through her child. Even at the beginning, through Mary, the Holy Spirit speaks of how God’s plan is to bring down the mighty and lift up the lowly—to feed the hungry poor and turn away the rich. Life as they have known it has now changed, in ways they can not yet comprehend. As a servant of this promise-keeper, Mary is about to become the God bearer.

Mary said yes to God, even though she had no idea was she was getting into. She spoke prophetically of a world in which the lowly like herself would receive justice, where those who were hungry would be fed and have their needs met. She trusted that through her, God would make it so. God has a plan for us and our ministry begins when we say yes to God, no matter how uncertain we may be, no matter how frightening it may seem. Kenda Dean says such a decision to say yes to God, “flings open the doors of our souls so that grace no longer needs to sneak in through the cracks. Now the Holy Spirit rushes in ‘like a mighty wind’ and fills us, overshadows us, transforms us by forming Jesus within us, restoring us to the image in whose likeness we were created. Now our soul-wombs, already prepared by grace, can carry Jesus into the world.”

That is how the Advent story becomes our story. We clear the way in our soul for Jesus to dwell and then to be carried into the world. We offer ourselves as instruments of peace, as laborers of love, as justice keepers. We make a conscious effort to let go of the pain and the prejudices and the sin that clutter the place where the Holy One is waiting to dwell. Be prepared, all it takes is for you to say “yes” and God will take care of the rest. The moment we say yes to God we become bearers of God’s word. From the second we lower our defenses—“here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word”—the Holy Spirit enters us, fills us, takes us over, changes everything about us, and through us, the world in which we live.” This is the mystery and the power of the incarnation, the God made flesh, to live and dwell not only among us but within us.

Blessed are you! Amen.

Additional Readings

Isaiah 35:1-10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11