I remember one Sunday afternoon, while on my way to celebrate mass in Spanish in the town of Forest, a little voice inside of me told me to stop off at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson to visit some patients, even though I was rather pressed for time. I discovered that there was a parishioner from the parish of Holy Family there, whom I didn’t even know was in the hospital. He was very glad to see me. In fact, he mentioned that he had called the pastoral care office that morning to have a priest visit him, without receiving a response, and low behold, here I come in to visit him. I told him that sometimes the call of the Holy Spirit is stronger than any telephone call or any other modern means of technology that we have today.
Just as the Holy Spirit directed me to St. Dominic’s hospital, the Angel Gabriel and the Spirit of the Lord were at work in the lives of Mary and her cousin Elizabeth in the Visitation, an important event in the history of God’s salvation. In many ways, the Angel Gabriel telling the Virgin Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was with child was a prophetic sign validating all that the Angel had communicated to Mary in the annunciation. Mary takes off in haste to the mountainous countryside around Jerusalem to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Biblical scholars estimate that it probably took Mary 2 or 3 days to get there.
As the baby John the Baptist leaps in Elizabeth’s womb in the presence of Mary, Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, announces Mary to be blessed among all women. And how does Mary respond? With a most radical song of joy, the Magnificat. Mary does not speak out of pride or power, but rather out of humility and poverty, as a servant who has been looked upon favorably by God in her lowliness. Her song of joy foreshadows the ministry of Jesus, of his love for the poor and the outcasts of society in its radical message of turning the world’s power structure upside down.
How do we approach our faith through the lens of the Magnificat, in its message of “scattering the proud in the thoughts of their hearts,” in “filling the hungry with good things, while the rich are sent away empty”?
The Magnificat is a song of joy, reflecting the joy that both Mary and Elizabeth felt in their visit, that both of them felt in the approaching birth of their children. It was a visit between two women, one young and the other old, who both received a treasure from God in a very life-altering, radical, miraculous way. By sharing this treasured moment from God with each other, perhaps they are able to break through any feelings of fear or isolation that may having been lingering in their minds. They share this moment together that so influences the history of salvation, and in many ways, this act of sharing, this act of community, helps God’s graces work in their lives and in the lives of so many to follow.
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