Mary’s Song, Our Mission
“For the Souls in Purgatory – Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord”
Luke 1:46-55
And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”
Grace Prayed For
This passage prompts us to pray for the grace of humble receptivity. It is the grace to see ourselves as Mary did, not as worthy recipients of God’s favor, but as lowly servants upon whom God has chosen to look with love. It is a grace that allows us to joyfully accept the gift of God’s own self, unmerited and unconditional, and to allow that gift to transform us from the inside out.
Reflection
Mary’s Magnificat is a revolutionary song of praise, a testament to the profound truth that “God gives himself to me.” In this moment, Mary, a humble young woman, becomes a vessel for the Divine. Her soul magnifies the Lord not as a distant, unapproachable deity, but as a God who has looked upon her lowliness and done great things for her. This is the heart of our mission: to recognize that this same God desires to give Himself to each of us, to dwell within us, and to work through us.
Our union with God is not a prize to be won, but a gift to be received with the same humility and openness as Mary. She rejoiced in God her savior, not because of her own merit, but because of His immense mercy. This mercy is not a one-time event; it extends “from age to age.” It is a constant, flowing river of grace that we are invited to enter.
To rejoice in our union with the Trinitarian God means to embrace the entirety of Mary’s song. It is to acknowledge that God’s presence in our lives will inevitably lead to a turning of the world’s values upside down. The proud are scattered, the mighty are brought low, and the rich are sent away empty. Conversely, the lowly are lifted up, and the hungry are filled. This is the radical nature of God’s love, a love that we are called to carry into every encounter.
When we truly allow God to give Himself to us, we become agents of this divine revolution. In our interactions with the poor, the marginalized, and the forgotten, we are no longer just offering charity; we are extending the very mercy of God that has been poured into our own hearts. Our mission, then, is not simply to speak of this message, but to live it so fully that our lives, like Mary’s, become a canticle of praise, a testament to the God who fills the hungry with good things.
Growing in Intimacy/Union with Jesus
The Magnificat leads us to greater intimacy with Jesus by revealing the heart of his mother, the very one who nurtured him and was his first disciple. In her words, we see the spiritual soil in which Jesus was raised—a soil rich with an understanding of God’s mercy, justice, and preferential love for the poor. To pray with Mary’s song is to draw near to the heart of the Holy Family and to understand the revolutionary love that Jesus would embody and proclaim throughout his ministry. It is to see Jesus not just as a historical figure, but as the fulfillment of a promise, the “good thing” that fills the hungry, and the one who, through his life, death, and resurrection, lifts up the lowly.
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Sharing
Jesus last words on Earth were to his disciples, can be found in Matthew Chap 28 when Jesus told his disciples, “Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Jesus calls all of us to share in his redemptive mission here on Earth. I would ask you to share this Scripture reflection with your family, your friends and your acquaintances, and then share it with a couple of individuals that you may may not be comfortable sharing with, keeping in mind always the words of Jesus, And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age
Author was assisted by AI in the drafting of this Post