Like Mary, We Are Called To Magnify The Lord

𝐃𝐄𝐂. 𝟐𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐃𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝟏 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝟏:𝟐𝟒-𝟐𝟖

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝟏 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝟐:𝟏, 𝟒-𝟖 “𝐌𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐤 𝟏:𝟒𝟔-𝟓𝟔

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞.” (𝐯.𝟒𝟗) 

         “𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒂 𝑫𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒎” (𝒗.46). This is the first line in the Latin language of what has been widely received as the prayer or the Canticle of Mary. This first line of the Magnificat as what Mary’s prayer is commonly called opens the heart of Mary for all men to see not just how she felt but the humility she possessed notwithstanding the blessing and favor the Lord has reposed in her.

         But as with any other Jew who has received religious instruction as a child, Mary can be described as familiar with the Scriptures because this great hymn of praise also echoes the song of Hannah in 1 Sam 2:1-10.

         Although the song of praise was similar, the situation in which their prayers were uttered was different. Hannah who has been rendered childless praised God for answering her prayers and offered her son Samuel to the Lord and he became a prophet throughout Israel.

         Mary, on the other hand, was not praying for a child since she was within the period of betrothal but when God’s favor rested in her she praised God in what was to become a great song of praise in the Magnificat. Herein lies the similarity between these two situations. Hannah dedicated her son Samuel to the service of the Lord while Mary offered her son Jesus to become the Savior of the world.

         Again, to fully understand the nature and beauty of the Magnificat and tie it into our own situation, we need to capture the character of Mary herself at the time she magnified the Lord through this hymn of praise. In 𝐯𝐯.𝟒𝟔-𝟒𝟕 Mary makes it known that she was aware of the fact that her body consists of both soul and spirit which is a theological truth and these two verses show that her entire being created by God, soul and spirit, was made to give glory to God for what he has done and for the benefits the world will receive for what God was about to do.

         Mary was aware of her lowly state in 𝐯𝐯.𝟒𝟖-𝟒𝟗 and it was her humility that found favor in God. Even if she pronounced that all generations will call her blessed, this was not out of pride for bearing the Son of God in her womb but was merely a repetition of what the angel Gabriel had told her (Lk 1:28). What was remarkable in these two verses was that she attributes her being blessed to the holiness of God. What Mary was pointing out was that God gets all the credit.

         In fact, Saint John Paul II in one of the general audiences in 1996 gave a reflection on the significance of the Magnificat. The Holy Father said that in the presence of the powerful and merciful Lord, Mary had expressed her own sense of lowliness: “𝑴𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝑺𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒓, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏.” (𝑳𝒌 1:47-48).

         With a similar expression, Mary makes known her situation of poverty and her awareness of being little before God, who by a free decision looked upon her, a humble girl from Nazareth and called her to become the Mother of the Messiah.

         The Magnificat, said Blessed John Paul II, was a truly theological song because it reveals the experience Mary had of God's looking upon her, God is not only the Almighty to whom nothing is impossible, as Gabriel had declared (Lk 1:37), but also the Merciful, capable of tenderness and fidelity towards every human being.

         Saint John Paul II went on to say that while these words of the song show us Mary as a concrete and sublime model, they make us understand that it is the humility of the heart which attracts God's kindness and God fulfills his promises in Mary with abundant generosity.

         Viewed in another way, it is also possible that the Lord through his Holy Spirit was speaking through Mary in the form of this hymn of praise because 𝐯𝐯.𝟓𝟎-𝟓𝟓 looked more like a prophecy of what Jesus was to do when he comes into the world. In other words, as God is a God in whom nothing is impossible, it was possible that God was using Mary to proclaim what the coming of Jesus would bring.

         Take note of how Jesus will help the lowly and the humble including Mary (𝐯𝐯.𝟒𝟖-𝟒𝟗, 𝟓𝟐), of mercy upon those who fear him (𝐯.𝟓𝟎), of how he fills those who are hungry (𝐯.𝟓𝟑) and, how he helped his servant Israel (𝐯.𝟓𝟒).        

        Contrast this with what he will do to those who will refuse the love that he brings. He will scatter the proud (𝐯.𝟓𝟏), he will bring down rulers from their thrones (𝐯.𝟓𝟐) and, he will send the rich away empty (𝐯.𝟓𝟑). Following this proclamation of what Jesus was to do, Mary ends with the assurance that God will fulfill his promises to Abraham and his descendants through the baby in her womb who comes from the tree of Abraham.

         The Magnificat thus should be viewed in terms of the blessings that await those who will abandon themselves to divine providence. On the other hand, it should also serve as a warning to those who will persist in separating themselves from the love of God.

         As the Magnificat speak of three types of life-changing scenarios: 𝟏) 𝐀 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐝 “𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬” (𝐯.𝟓𝟏); (𝟐) 𝐀 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 “𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞” (𝐯.𝟓𝟐) 𝐚𝐧𝐝, (𝟑) 𝐀𝐧 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 “𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲” (𝐯.𝟓𝟑).        

         In effect, the Magnificat is similar to what the Beatitudes is all about because Mary’s hymn of praise was not just about a song or a Canticle that we recite during the Liturgy of the Hours but it serves as a guide to pattern our lives to that which was proclaimed by God through Mary.

         We are to be careful “𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬” (𝐑𝐨𝐦 𝟏𝟐:𝟐). We are to fear him and remain humble for “𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐝” (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟑:𝟏𝟐). We are to feed those who are hungry because “𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝” (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟓:𝟕).        

         As we await the coming of Mary’s Son, let us be reminded of what Bishop Fulton J. Sheen once said referring to Mary as “𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘰𝘯.” And St. Ambrose also said: “𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺’𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥; 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳.”       

          To rejoice in God is to magnify him in the way we live our lives. Indeed, this is our calling as Christian disciples in that every fiber of our being should mirror not only the eternal joy that awaits those who will believe in the One True God but also in the way we share in the pain, sorrow and suffering of Jesus Christ whom our lives seek to magnify. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘋𝘦𝘤. 22, 2025)