WHAT a wonderful prayer! The words,
uttered by a most
humble and honored Mary, Mother of God, Mother of Christ and our
Mother, simply drip with the highest aspirations and noblest
sentiments any human being can and should have.
“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,” responded Mary when her cousin Elizabeth paid her the
highest tribute: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb.”
It’s one of the happiest occasions in the Christian world
when two most divinely blessed women met, one visiting the other. They
could not help but glow in the splendor of the tremendous favor given
them, one bearing the very son of God, our Redeemer, and the other
carrying the very precursor who was going to point out to the people
the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.
It’s a scene worth engraving in our consciousness all the
time, for what it expresses is what is actually proper of all of us to
have. What those women felt should also be what we should feel all the
time.
Yes, we have every reason to feel intense joy and
thanksgiving and to feel blessed, regardless of whatever, because the
Son of God, the very pattern of our humanity, has himself become man
to bring us back to where we all come from and to whom we belong.
Whatever situation we find ourselves in, good or bad, happy or sad,
should always be infused by the spirit of the Magnificat.
We should repeat the words of the Magnificat daily, and,
in fact, often during the day. We should repeat them from the heart,
especially when we encounter difficulties and failures in life,
because they remind us that God never fails to bless us. Yes, we
should always feel blessed even amidst our problems and mistakes.
Feeling blessed is important and indispensable to us.
Without it, we would be putting ourselves in great danger as we would
simply stand on an unstable ground, totally dependent on the shifting
world of chance, luck and fortune.
When these latter mundane and temporal values are missing,
we cannot help but feel doomed, our life losing meaning and purpose,
and our activities would simply become means to pass the time. Nothing
more and beyond!
To be able to assume the spirit of the Magnificat, we
should try our best to adapt the attitude of Mary. She was most humble
and most docile. She asked for a clarification when she was told she
was going to become the Mother of the Son of God, but it was not out
of doubt and lack of faith. It was simply to make her cooperation with
God’s will and ways most complete.
When it was told to her how the incarnation of the Son of
God in her womb would be, she simply said, “Fiat mihi secundum verbum
tuum, be it done to me, according to your word.” And God became man,
“Et verbum caro factum est.”
Let us hope that even and especially in the middle of our
worldly affairs, when we also need to be immersed in them, tackling
all the technicalities that they can involve, we can manage to
remember the Magnificat that, to Mary, was the result of her being
chosen the Mother of God and the tremendous weapon she used to
actively participate in the redemptive work of her Son.
To us, the Magnificat should be the pledge that God loves
and blesses us, no matter how undeserving we are, as well as the means
to face all the vagaries of life, praising God, thanking him, asking
for pardon and favors with confidence.
The Magnificat should remind us that even in our worst
predicaments, God is always around and Mary is showing us how we can
be united or reunited with her Son. She would infuse confidence into
our heart especially at a time when we would be most vulnerable to
lose that confidence and opt to become a fugitive from God.
The Magnificat is like a most precious and useful family
treasure in a Christian’s life. It’s not meant to be kept in some
secret vault. It has to be used frequently, for it has tremendous
power to bring us back to vibrant Christian life if we have slackened
or to keep the fire of love burning, full of action and not just of
desires.
Like Mary who quickly visited her cousin to help, we too
can quickly involve ourselves in the lives of others.
humble and honored Mary, Mother of God, Mother of Christ and our
Mother, simply drip with the highest aspirations and noblest
sentiments any human being can and should have.
“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,” responded Mary when her cousin Elizabeth paid her the
highest tribute: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb.”
It’s one of the happiest occasions in the Christian world
when two most divinely blessed women met, one visiting the other. They
could not help but glow in the splendor of the tremendous favor given
them, one bearing the very son of God, our Redeemer, and the other
carrying the very precursor who was going to point out to the people
the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.
It’s a scene worth engraving in our consciousness all the
time, for what it expresses is what is actually proper of all of us to
have. What those women felt should also be what we should feel all the
time.
Yes, we have every reason to feel intense joy and
thanksgiving and to feel blessed, regardless of whatever, because the
Son of God, the very pattern of our humanity, has himself become man
to bring us back to where we all come from and to whom we belong.
Whatever situation we find ourselves in, good or bad, happy or sad,
should always be infused by the spirit of the Magnificat.
We should repeat the words of the Magnificat daily, and,
in fact, often during the day. We should repeat them from the heart,
especially when we encounter difficulties and failures in life,
because they remind us that God never fails to bless us. Yes, we
should always feel blessed even amidst our problems and mistakes.
Feeling blessed is important and indispensable to us.
Without it, we would be putting ourselves in great danger as we would
simply stand on an unstable ground, totally dependent on the shifting
world of chance, luck and fortune.
When these latter mundane and temporal values are missing,
we cannot help but feel doomed, our life losing meaning and purpose,
and our activities would simply become means to pass the time. Nothing
more and beyond!
To be able to assume the spirit of the Magnificat, we
should try our best to adapt the attitude of Mary. She was most humble
and most docile. She asked for a clarification when she was told she
was going to become the Mother of the Son of God, but it was not out
of doubt and lack of faith. It was simply to make her cooperation with
God’s will and ways most complete.
When it was told to her how the incarnation of the Son of
God in her womb would be, she simply said, “Fiat mihi secundum verbum
tuum, be it done to me, according to your word.” And God became man,
“Et verbum caro factum est.”
Let us hope that even and especially in the middle of our
worldly affairs, when we also need to be immersed in them, tackling
all the technicalities that they can involve, we can manage to
remember the Magnificat that, to Mary, was the result of her being
chosen the Mother of God and the tremendous weapon she used to
actively participate in the redemptive work of her Son.
To us, the Magnificat should be the pledge that God loves
and blesses us, no matter how undeserving we are, as well as the means
to face all the vagaries of life, praising God, thanking him, asking
for pardon and favors with confidence.
The Magnificat should remind us that even in our worst
predicaments, God is always around and Mary is showing us how we can
be united or reunited with her Son. She would infuse confidence into
our heart especially at a time when we would be most vulnerable to
lose that confidence and opt to become a fugitive from God.
The Magnificat is like a most precious and useful family
treasure in a Christian’s life. It’s not meant to be kept in some
secret vault. It has to be used frequently, for it has tremendous
power to bring us back to vibrant Christian life if we have slackened
or to keep the fire of love burning, full of action and not just of
desires.
Like Mary who quickly visited her cousin to help, we too
can quickly involve ourselves in the lives of others.
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