My soul magnifies the Lord

Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord."

And Mary said:

"My soul magnifies the Lord,

And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;

For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.

For He who is mighty has done great things for me,

And holy is His name.

And His mercy is on those who fear Him

From generation to generation.

He has shown strength with His arm;

He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He has put down the mighty from their thrones,

And exalted the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

And the rich He has sent away empty.

He has helped His servant Israel,

In remembrance of His mercy,

As He spoke to our fathers,

To Abraham and to his seed forever."

And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house.

- Luke 1:39-56

In yesterday's reading, Luke's gospel told us the story of Gabriel's visit to Mary, the Annunciation. He told her: "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women!" She was troubled, and he continued: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS." Mary asked, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" Gabriel answered: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Highest will overshadow you, therefore, also that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible." Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord." We remember that Mary has been told by Gabriel that Elizabeth is in her sixth month of pregnancy. John the Baptist leaps in the womb of Elizabeth his mother, because Jesus has come near. Elizabeth responds in the Spirit, and calls Mary "blessed," just as Gabriel did in yesterday's reading. She realizes her child has leaped for joy in the presence of "my Lord." In the phrase, "Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord," Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, repeats a theme running through these first readings in Luke. Through faith, we are aware of what is to unfold in relationship to God, an active fulfillment of promise. Acceptance of this relationship has meant an awareness and acceptance of things unfolding, being fulfilled, moving forward, things revealed in the visitation of the messenger: first to Zacharias (who hesitated) and then to Mary.

And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed." Here, Mary begins her own prayer from her heart, known in the West as the Magnificat, after its first word in its Latin form. This prayer is similar to the inspired prayer of Hannah found in 1 Samuel 2:1-10, which my study bible notes had been prayed by expectant Jewish mothers for centuries. "Henceforth all generations will call me blessed" is an inspired understanding of what to this day is true. What we read in the first words of this prayer is a clear sense of her depth of faith - a kind of oneness of Mary's own soul and spirit with Lord, God her Savior. Both titles will also be used for Christ, the son she bears. In the Eastern churches, she is known as "God-bearer."

"For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation." Again, we look to the future in this inspired prayer, and in that unfolding future is a story of faith, from generation to generation. It is a promise of mercy, a mercy that will unfold from generation to generation.

"He has shown strength with His arm; he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever." Here the promise refers back in time, to the thread of God's mercy running through the whole history of Israel, the people of God, from Abraham their ancestor. God's mercy unfolds through time, God's promise is fulfilled "in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever." What we have, then, is a sense of God's unfolding promises through time, the patient witness even of the whole people, Israel, the fulfillment in the present moment in which this young woman has become "God-bearer" for all. My study bible adds, "The reign of God is over (a) our hearts, (b) kings and rulers, (c) the poor and the rich, and (d) the faithful of God."

So, in these unfolding stories from the first chapter of Luke, we begin to get a sense of time, the unfolding of God's promises and their fulfillment, and the necessary requirement of faith that we be prepared to keep God's promise in mind, to accept and abide, even with patience, as God's promises are fulfilled. In this case, Mary's pregnancy is an unfolding of a promise made centuries before, even to Abraham, and it will unfold as a promise of generations to come: henceforth all generations will call me blessed. When we think of faith, and of examples of our faith, this is what we must bear in mind. It is a kind of abiding, a trust, a knowledge that the promise that we await unfolds, through time, becomes fulfilled. The faith and hope we hold in our hearts is that of a trust in God's love, and a sense in which God uses time as a part of that mercy, to unfold, build and grow a relationship of faith in us, and with us. What we keep in our hearts becomes a sense of God's love, God's help with us, not an immediate demand for fulfillment of what we may expect or desire. It is rather an unfolding blessing, a deepening of relationship, a promise fulfilled in and through time. Can we hold on to that love in our hearts? Can we consider ourselves blessed, as she did? These two women, in their great love for one another, hold fast to that promise in the Spirit -- in Gabriel's words, "for with God nothing will be impossible." Let the love of the Spirit fill us, and give us love and strength and hope, as the promise is from generation to generation. May our souls, likewise, magnify the Lord, as our spirits have rejoiced in God our Savior.