Mary's Magnificat and ... mine?
Can you say these words after Mary: The Almighty has done great things for me (cf. Lk 1:46)?
But not as her words, but as our own, flowing from your heart?
So, has the Almighty done great things in your life story? Or otherwise: what great things did He do for me?
Perhaps sometimes it seems to you (just like to me ...) that God worked miraculously in the lives of many holy women and men, and above all in the life of Mary. He chose her as the Mother of his Son - this is a great distinction! Maybe sometimes it seems to us that He has really done a lot for other people. We see how beautifully he led some people close to us or slightly away from us, maybe one of our friends; but if we were to tell right here and now what he did for us, we would have a problem.
He did Great things for many others, but what has He done for me?...
Maybe right now, instead of hymns of praise in his honor, we see difficulties, and even darkness in front of us, and with them instead of singing the Magnificat, there are questions: why Lord, did you allow so many wounds which do not want to heal at all, do not stop bleeding, do not want to be forgotten despite the passage of time? Why did you not save me from so many bad experiences? Why don't you hear my greatest desires, how long will I keep pleading, begging? And sometimes it is difficult for us to understand that He really sees more that He embraces everything, and he is really right, even when He allows the darkness.
What He did for Her?
It is worth considering for a moment what He did for Mary. In the spirit of faith, we see something extraordinary, that is: the participation of a woman, or rather a young girl, in the work of Salvation. We see a pure, beautiful, renewed femininity, one from before sin, from before the story about the apple. But, humanly speaking, would any of you, my sisters, want just Such Things? Would either of you agree to complicate your life so drastically? Especially today, in the age of detailed planning of everything and insurance against everything.
So, let us imagine: Mary finds out that she will be a mother. She finds out, but in fact full of humility - She does something much bigger - She agrees, She says her fiat. This moment is one of the most beautiful moments in the life for many women - to learn that a new life is developing under the heart and in this case: the life and heartbeat of God himself! But her fiancé is not a father, after all, explaining to everyone around him, why the baby appeared too early is not easy. Joseph might not have believed her; he might have left her. And what did Mary hear from her relatives? The Gospel is silent about it, but we can imagine those looks, pointing fingers, whispers behind her back, and maybe like razor-sharp wounding words addressed directly to her and to Joseph, and to Mary's parents. Was this A nice start to these great things? No. If, at least later, it was better but not - from the very beginning Mary and Joseph have to fight for the Child's life; they flee to Egypt. Jesus' years of adolescence may have been quieter, but what happens next? Mary sees how her son is condemned to death, how he is abandoned by his disciples, how he is mocked, abused and finally crucified. To stand under the cross of her own child and not be able to help him, then hold his dead body in her arms - is there a logic of miracles that God works in this suffering? Any mother would give anything for her child, but She cannot do anything for Her Son.
Mary agrees, gives herself to the Lord, does not dictate to him her ideas for these great things. In Her Magnificat (Lk. 1: 46-56) She worships God. Yes, She says that generations will praise her, but then she explains why: because He has done great things for her. So, generations will praise God for what He has accomplished in Her. We, of course, praise her for her attitude, for her humility, patience and courage. But she is silent about it, she is looking at the Lord whom she wants to serve. Who among us has such perpetual humility and trust like Mary? And her gratitude?
We often forget about the Miracles that we experienced in our life, about what the Lord has done, but also about what He apparently did not do, and from what He saved us. Sometimes we forget that the requests that He has not fulfilled are an expression of his concern.
For what I can thank TODAY
Even when I forget all His works, I try to remember two things and give thanks for them. He wished me here and now. I was conceived in my mother's womb, no one else (and yet there were many possibilities). He wanted me and, moreover, he loved me much, that he gave his life for me. What Mary sings about is also mine. Heritage. If nothing better and great had happened in my life, would these not be two reasons enough to cry out after Mary, "My soul magnifies the Lord"?
He keeps doing and still does not stop. He wanted each of us, He gave Himself for each of us. Even if the entire world seems hostile, if we feel that we are not needed by anyone, that we were not wanted even by our parents, that we were not accepted by our loved ones - he really wanted us and still wants us and still loves us! Are our human hearts thirsty for love, thirsting to be longed for by Someone, to be embraced - experience this Greatest Miracle right here, in this Divine love?
Here, where Her Magnificat sounded, is Ain Karem
These wonderful things are not always what we imagine them to be. They do not always happen when we need them (as it seems to me). It happens, after all, that we pray for years for a good husband, a good wife or a child, and on the other side the line is still busy, as if God had fallen asleep, forgot. Or maybe He has other plans of his own? Why is it hard for us to believe that He has a better calendar and a better sense of time (though He is outside of time) than we, who live in this time, learn to manage it, etc.? Or sometimes, when we say, "your will be done," we do not suggest to God what it might be?
Or maybe He really wants more for us than we can imagine? And He is just waiting for our Fiat and Magnificat, for confirmation of these great things. Because God cannot do other things except the great ones. He gives us also what we do not dare to ask for.
So, I want what is beyond me, what I would not even think is for me, that it can be for me, and I say yes to all things done for me by Him.
“The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.”
Until Tomorrow
fr. george