22nd of December

Gospel text

(Lk 1:46-56): 

Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon 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, and 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 remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.”

Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and then returned to her home.

The Application

Mary's magnificat is a thanksgiving, and she gives thanks to God, not as an individual woman, but as the daughter of a generation and thus she becomes the mother of a new generation. She uses the liturgical song or hymn she has learned to give thanks to her God, the God of history. The one who was saved by her Son, even before being the mother, already shows us a way to become the true sons and daughters of this mother.

The Gospel tells us that she stayed for three months. These three months are important, just as the Ark of the Covenant stayed three months in Jerusalem. These three months represent for me personally the many three that she will undergo throughout her life, such as searching for her son for three days, three days at the tomb, etc. They are represent the accomplishment of divine will, in its perfection. She will take care that remains faithful, come what may. As she finishes her work in her cousin's house, she invites us to be faithful to the mission we have accepted, for it will lead us to the resurrection. There we will find the promise made to Abraham fulfilled in us, poor sinners that we are.

Action of the day: Glorify God at all time.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior”

Fr. Francesc PERARNAU i Cañellas

(Girona, Spain)

Today's Gospel presents for our consideration the Magnificat Canticle, with which the Virgin Mary, full of joy, greets Elizabeth, her relative, mother of John the Baptist, in her home. Mary's words remind us of other Biblical canticles and songs She knew quite well and had so often, recited and contemplated. Now. However, those very words, on her lips, have a much deeper meaning: behind them, God's Mother spirit shows through while also evincing the purity of her heart. Every day, at the Liturgy of the Hours, the Church makes these words hers when, with the Vespers, the Church addresses to Heaven the same song with which Mary rejoiced, blessed and thanked God for all His graciousness and sheer kindness.

Mary has benefited of the most extraordinary Grace any woman has ever received or will ever receive: amongst all other women in History, she has been chosen by God, to become the Mother of the Redeemer Messiah, whom Mankind had been awaiting for so many centuries. It is the highest honor ever granted any human person, and She accepts it with total restraint and humility, by realizing it all is Grace and a gift, and her own lowliness before the immensity of God's power and greatness, which has done wonders on Her (cf. Lk 1:49). This is a great lesson of humility for all of us, Adam's sons, and heirs of a human nature deeply stained by Original Sin, which, day after day, would try to drag us down.

We are getting close to the end of Advent, a time of conversion and purification. To day, it is the Virgin Mary who is showing us the best way. Mulling over our Mother's prayer —by wishing to make it ours— will help us to become more humble. Mother Mary will help us if we truly ask her.