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Today, with Christmas only three days away, we read Mary's "Magnificat", her grateful response to the joyous praise with which Elizabeth greets her. The first reading tells of Hannah's presentation of her son, Samuel, in the temple, to dedicate him to the service of the Lord. To understand, though, the connection between the two readings, we must look at the responsorial psalm. It is the hymn which Hannah sings when she offers Samuel to the Lord's service. And it is also the model for Mary's Magnificat in St Luke. The two hymns are very similar. Yahweh exalts the lowly and humbles the proud. He comes as the saviour of His people and all their hope is in Him. In fact, St Luke wants us to recall Hannah's song, and all the Old Testament hopes it contains, as we read Mary's song of joy. She is really proclaiming that in her Son, now in her womb, all the dreams of the Jewish people will find their fulfilment. At the same time, Mary's song adds a beautiful note of personal humility ("He has looked kindly on His lowly servant") and gratitude ("He who is mighty has done great things for me"). She is our model of humility and gratitude. And her (and Hannah's) confidence about the future should be ours also. If God has made fruitful a barren woman, if He has taken flesh in a maiden who "knows not man", what could ever happen in the future to shake our faith and trust? Mary, Mother of our Saviour, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. |
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P R A Y I N G W I T H T H E C H U R C H
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That Christians may free themselves from the subtle forms of cultural conditioning which prevent them from recognising the dignity and rights of others
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Our vocation and mission as Christians is to bring the light of Christ to the world in order to preserve the world from corruption by permeating it with the values of the Gospel. We need, ourselves, first and foremost to be enlightened by Christ. We do not generate light, we only refract, reflect and radiate. It is His light that we must cast on the world. The more transparent our lives are with the values of the Gospel, the better is the light of Christ reflected and the less we are seen. The world in which we live is mixed with wheat and weeds. There is good and evil. Consumerism is but the logical sequence of a materialistic way of life. Spiritual values are forgotten. Our wants are made to appear as our needs and we are forced to get so immersed in the joys of this world as to forget the joys of the world to come. We are admonished to be aware lest we be trapped by these and other forms of cultural conditioning that mark this world. Awareness is the first step to change. We pray that this awareness may help us to be delivered from the cultural conditioning that hinders and hampers our vision and prevents us from recognising the dignity and the rights of others. | |
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