Reflecting upon Mary’s prayer - the Magnificat

Let’s relook at this magnificent prayer of Mary we call the Magnificat (which is read in today’s gospel from Luke 1:46-56). It begins with an utterance that comes from the very depth of her being. She is expressing quite openly her sense of wonder at the enormity of God. Then she admits her own smallness. Yet she believes that God looks on her because, through her, unbelievable things will happen and, as a consequence, her name will not only be remembered throughout history but people will recognise that she was indeed blessed by God. Her prayer goes on to show that this cry from the very depth of her soul is one that gives total praise to God for “holy is God’s name”. To utter God’s name is to touch the sacred and to gain a sense of God’s endless love and forgiveness for all who share Mary’s sense of awe and gratitude. From reaching to the heavens, Mary comes back to earth and presents a vision of what God’s might will bring about. God will turn everything upside down. The proud and the powerful and the wealthy will be stripped of their titles and wealth, and the little ones will be raised up and the hungry will be fed. In this way, then, the promises made to our ancestors of faith and of blood will be fulfilled. Finally, what was truly magnificent was that Mary stayed with her cousin Elizabeth and cared for her during those crucial months of pregnancy and then went back home. Let us never overlook the simple acts of kindness for it is through these acts that we live out our prayers and visions and come to grow in our knowledge of and belief in the God of all creation.