Spiritual Dimensions
A Nun's Reflection on Advent: the Magnificat
By Miriam Ward, RSM
Photo by: Margaret Michniewicz
Each month, Vermont Woman features a representative of
a different faith in our series on spiritual guidance for life in the
21st century.
"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. . . " better
known to Catholics who grew up in the pre-Vatican II era as the Magnificat,
also known as the Canticle of Mary.
The choral rendition of the Magnificat was one of my favorite
pieces out of all the great music of Advent, the four weeks before Christmas.
The glorious Magnificat of J.S. Bach as well asthe Gregorian
plainchant brought out the theme of joy and hope, of love and peace in
anticipation of the birth of Jesus, Prince of Peace. As a novice in the
Mercy Community, I loved the recitation of the Magnificat in
Latin at daily Vespers. In 1982 I had the great privilege of seeing the
centuries old fresco of Fra Angelico's The Annunciation in San
Marco, Florence. Mary's expression of humility and awe at the announcement
that she is to be the Mother of God suggests her response which we know
as the Magnificat. And the crowning privilege for me has been
the many pilgrimage tours I have led to the Basilica of the Annunciation
in Nazareth, Israel. The interior walls are covered with murals from
many countries of the world depicting Mary and the Infant Jesus.
The Magnificat appealed to me as a woman, because it is Mary
who is singing the song of praise. Little about Mary can be found in
Scripture, but in this Canticle of Mary we have a gem. And from this
little gem of Scripture -- Mary's humble words of response to the angel's
announcement that she is to be the mother of the messiah -- we have a
2,000 year tradition of holding up Mary as the paradigm and model of
Christian discipleship.
Despite the fact that some Christian feminists argue that there can
be no place in the women's movement for Mary claiming that she has been
coopted by the patriarchal church, and used to relegate women to subservience,
others such as Rosemary Ruether and Mary Jo Weaver point to the universalism
that is embedded in the Magnificat. What God has done for Mary
is universalized in God's dealing with all humanity. By situating the Magnificat within
the flow of the gospel reflection on the nature of God and the coming
birth of Jesus, Luke uses sort of a reversal theology in inserting the
verses "He has brought down the powerful. . .and lifted up the lowly.
. .he has filled the hungry. And sent the rich empty away. . ." The Magnificat is
closely related to Jesus' Beatitudes for the poor, and woes for the rich.
Luke contrasts the poor, hungry, and weeping with those who are rich
and full. For Luke the poor are the physically poor as well as the sick
and downtrodden, and the rich are the physically rich as well as the
proud and the arrogant.
As deeply as art, music and literature inspired by the Magnificat can
reach the depths of our personal spirituality and lift us to realms of
spiritual fulfillment, we need to keep in mind that this hymn of praise
is a profound theological statement demanding a response.
Mary's Magnificat was probably patterned after the Song of
Hannah in the Hebrew book of Samuel, and emphasizes the theme God's favor
to the poor. The early Christian community most likely adopted this hymn
from their Jewish tradition and the evangelist Luke used it in his infancy
narrative.
What comes through in Luke's gospel is that Jesus is the champion of
the poor, the oppressed and one who spent his entire ministry helping
to alleviate the suffering of the sick and helpless, the disenfranchised
of society. Biblical commentators agree that the poor that Jesus referred
to were the day laborers, people who did not eat when they could not
find work; the marginalized in society: children, widows, orphans, lepers,
the sick and handicapped.
Two themes in the Magnificat and Sermon on the Mount are relevant
to our post 9/11 era: poverty, and the current war waged on Iraq. First,
in the gospel the rich are admonished to share their possessions. In
2004, let's make a reality check. Across the world, 842 million people
are hungry; more than 1.2 billion people live below the poverty line
in the Developing World. Thirty million Americans are without enough
to eat; three million are without shelter. Here in Vermont eleven percent
of families with children are poor; at the national level fourteen percent
of these families live in poverty.
Appalling! Outrageous!
Secondly, in the gospel Christians are urged to work for peace and
seek justice. Again, in 2004 let's make a reality check. In an
unjust, unnecessary war, 1,189 American military deaths at this writing;
8,458 American wounded; 100,000 Iraqi deaths, including as many as
10,000 civilians.
Appalling! Outrageous!
As Christians approach Advent, reflection on the Canticle of Mary, the Magnificat,
in the richest country in the world, how can we not be appalled and outraged?
As Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister asks, "What kind of sign will
Christianity be? Will our sign to a poor and starving world be a cadre
of Christian chauvinists claiming only for themselves the full revelation
of God as provincially empowering, pre-occupying, potent, and pre possessing
as that is?" I would add the alternative question, "Will the
Christian sign be the church united to live the gospel? To work for justice?
To speak out against the oppression of racism, violence, war and
poverty?" Pax Christi Burlington member Beatrice Parwatikar in "Hoping,
Seeking and Demanding Justice" sums it up: "Our demanding justice
is our testimony to the greatness of God." That is the essence of
Mary's Magnificat.
Miriam Ward is a Sister of Mercy, a founding member of Pax Christi
Burlington and of Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel.
Recently
retired from teaching at St. Michael's College, she served on the
working
committee on the Middle East at the International Pax Christi Consultation
held in May at Seton Hall University. |
