“Praise-worthy”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Friday, May 31, 2024
Luke 1: 39-57 (Forward, p. 33) CEV p. 1055
I had never really noticed this before, but today’s passage is full of people showing forth praises. However, who it is that is uttering the praises and to whom the praises are uttering can come as a real surprise.
Early on, we see praises that come from Elizabeth, Mary’s aunt, and which, surprisingly, are directed not at God but at Mary. She praises Mary for God’s selection of her to bear God’s Son, which I’m sure was something of a consolation later in Mary’s life when she faced so much trouble. This praise of our fellow human beings is certainly worthy of our imitation, for we can all use some praises, some reaffirmation, from time to time.
And then there are Mary’s praises, this time directed at God, which we know liturgically as The Magnificat. This hymn of praise is most interesting, and surprising. Mary begins this hymn by speaking about God’s graciousness towards herself (verses 46-50), but then lapses into praising God for His all-encompassing justice and righting of wrongs (verses 51-55). No wonder liberation theologians have found great comfort and inspiration in this.
However, there is one big surprise, namely the first mention of praise. It concerns the unborn child of Elizabeth, the future John the Baptist. Even while still in the womb he acknowledges Jesus and praises God. Incredible. And, on another plane—to wade into an ever-present controversy--surely this says something about human life, and sentient life, even before birth.
Be that what it may, it really says that we, you and I, should make it a point to constantly praise God—and each other—by our words, yes, but also by our deeds, by how we treat God and treat each other. Thanks be to God.
Forward notes: “He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty” (verse 53).
Commemoration: The Visitation
“When Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, she proclaims a song of praise to God, the Magnificat, that recapitulates Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel. As a girl, I was always curious about Mary and imagined a version of Mary who was gentle, meek, and mild. In encountering the Magnificat as I got older, I found a Mary who was surprisingly revolutionary, who prophesied about God’s work on behalf of the lowly and forgotten, and imagined a future of liberation that still inspires me today.
“The mother of Jesus was not a prominent royal figure or from a powerful family, but she is the one whom God chose to bring the Saviour and Redeemer of the world into the world in a remarkably scandalous fashion. In God’s coming into the world through Jesus, God upends our expectations and promises us that the world is about to turn. On this feast of the Visitation and every day, may we be granted Mary’s holy imagination for a world that fosters flourishing for all people and all parts of creation.
MOVING FORWARD: “What is your vision of Mary? How does the Magnificat shape that picture?”