Henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me

 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 1:39-48a, 48b-56

Yesterday, we read that in the sixth month (of Elizabeth's pregnancy) the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.  The virgin's name was Mary.  And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!"  But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.  Then the angel said to her, "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.  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.  And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."  Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"  And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and 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 not 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."   The leaping of the babe, John the Baptist, in Elizabeth's womb is considered to be a sign of the return of prophecy to Israel.  We remember no prophet had been seen in Israel since the time of Malachi; it was considered a kind of reproach, marking the longing for the Messiah.  Then Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, speaks words of spiritual truth -- venerating Mary as one blessed among women just as Gabriel had in yesterday's reading.   She calls Mary by a rightful title in the Church, the mother of My Lord.  This is seen as a confession; the babe just formed in Mary's womb is already understood as both fully human and fully divine:  the Lord was another title for God.  This image of new life being fully recognized as incarnate Christ, and Mary as mother of My Lord, gives us a picture of the Person already present in the womb, and informs the Church's point of view on the sanctity of life from earliest inception.

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.  Mary's song is called the "Magnificat," after its first word in the Latin version.  My study bible says it comes from the heart of Mary, inspired by the song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10).   The song prophesies that all generations will call me blessed -- as the Church continues to venerate Mary today.  Mary gives credit fully to God for the Incarnation, and not to herself, expressing, as my study bible puts it, "both deep humility and the knowledge that God is the source of all grace."   Through the Incarnation, Mary's song declares, God reigns over all, from generation to generation.

Mary's song gives us a big clue about Christ and about the power of God present in Him.  It is a statement, a prophesy, about a power that turns things upside down, stands worldly power on its head, and that is properly represented in Mary, who as a figure is entirely humble and yet remains a source of strength for millions, called throughout Church history a refuge and a strong tower, considered to be the one who overturned the sin of Eve her ancestor.  As such, she's the ultimate expression of what a human being can be; it's her "Yes" that makes way for everything else.  God's power, she reveals (as did Hannah), has scattered those proud in the imagination of their hearts,  put down the mighty from their thrones, exalted the lowly, filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.  All these things are made possible, glorified, via the Incarnation, through her role, her "Yes" to the grace presented to her.  God works through the humble, but humble does not mean lacking in strength, or confidence, or faith:  Mary has all of these.  It's the power of her faith and of her discernment that teaches us something about where strength really is, and what is possible for a human being.  We shouldn't forget also that Jesus' human nature will be taken from this woman, and it seems to me that His powerful respect for and inclusion of women in His ministry speaks very strongly for her influence, and the kindness of His male guardian, Joseph.  It is Mary who shows a true understanding of God's power at work in her song which we read today, Mary who prompts her Son at the wedding at Cana, the first sign in John's Gospel, and teaches the servants present also, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  She said "Yes," and she teaches us all to do the same; in that sense, she is the tower of strength, the fortress of faith, the image of human being for all of us, men and women, from generation to generation.  What is important is that we understand her great blessing; that she is the "highly favored one" precisely because of all of these qualities that come from spiritual depth, a wealth open to each of us, even (or perhaps, especially) the most humble.  What is the power of faith?  That is what she shows us, an image for each of us to consider and to venerate.