Word to the Wise
Saturday, December 22, 2018 - December 22
[1 Sam 1:24-28 and Luke 1:46-56]"[God] has come to the help of his servant Israel for he remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever." [Luke]
The Canticle of Mary [Magnificat] shines forth in beauty at any time. Indeed it is part of the daily Evening Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours. But, in Advent, its full meaning is, as it were, magnified! The canticle is a catalog of promise and fulfillment, based on many phrases from the Old Testament which record that promise and fulfillment. But now, in the person of Jesus in the womb of Mary, that promise is receiving an ultimate fulfillment. There is the personal joy of Mary but the canticle represents all that the evangelist Luke is trying to accomplish in composing the gospel that bears his name - the "Good News" of Jesus is a sign of joy to all nations, as the angels will declare to the shepherds.
This joy is not simply a surface cordiality and enthusiasm. Once the tree comes down and the gift returns or bargains at the stores are over, life moves on but the Good News remains, to be celebrated again and again. I have suggested in the past that we leave the manger scene up year round. We don't take down our crucifixes after Easter! Is Jesus' birth of less significance for us? That manger scene is what the Magnificat is all about. God has put skin on divine mercy! AMEN