The Song that Mary Sings
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord:
my spirit rejoices in God my saviour,
for you Lord have looked with favour
on your lowly servant:
and from this day all generations will call me blessèd.
You O Most Mighty have done great things for me:
and holy is your name.
You have mercy on those who fear you:
from generation to generation.
You have shown the strength of your arm:
you have scattered the proud in their conceit.
You have cast down the mighty from their thrones:
and have lifted up the lowly.
You have filled the hungry with good things:
and the rich you have sent away empty.
You have come to the help of your people:
for you have remembered your promise of mercy,
the promise you made to our forbears:
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Luke 1:46–55 (adapted, ANZPB)
Mary’s Song, traditionally called the Magnificat, from the opening word in the Latin translation, is the climax of the scene in Sunday’s Gospel reading (Luke 1:39-45, 46-55) where Mary goes to visit her relative Elizabeth while both are pregnant with their respective children (Jesus and John the Baptist). Those of us who know the Magnificat mainly through the beautiful settings of it that we hear at choral evensong can forget just how radical it is. It speaks of the proud scattered in the thoughts of their hearts, the powerful brought down from their thrones and the lowly lifted up, of the hungry filled with good things and the rich sent away empty. This is a song of high revolt, a song of resistance to hunger, homelessness, poverty, and inequality. I’ve a sense that anyone who sings the Magnificat and isn’t inspired to go off and storm a barricade is missing the point of it all. If you know the track from Les Miserables “Do you hear the people sing” you’ll know what I mean.
Mary is singing, and behind her God is singing, against the misuse of power. We hear her engaging with the story of her people, and the memories of how God has been siding with the oppressed since the days of Egypt, when God heard and responded to the cries of the Hebrew slaves. God’s actions in favour of the weak, the poor, the hungry are part of who God is. Is that also part of who we are? How are we living out God’s care for the powerless and the poor?
There’s something else about the song that Mary sings: it’s personal. She sings “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour … for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” She’s drawing on her relationship with God and praising God for what God has done for her. The song comes out of her bond with the God of her ancestors and ours, the God who never stops acting with love and power. The Magnificat is an image of hope for the vulnerable and the oppressed. Is the song that Mary sings also the song that we sing?
Comments