{"id":5833,"date":"2015-12-17T09:31:45","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T15:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=5833"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:47:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:47:03","slug":"an-advent-song-for-our-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2015\/12\/17\/an-advent-song-for-our-age\/","title":{"rendered":"An Advent song for our age"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Credit: https:\/\/www.shcj.org\/reflection-on-the-visitation-of-mary\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Elizabeth heard Mary\u2019s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried\u00a0out in a loud voice and said, \u201cMost blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord\u00a0should come to me, for at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.”<\/em> –Luke 1:41-44<\/a><\/p>\n

Gaudete! This is the week of joyful anticipation!!<\/p>\n

Just as Jesus and John leaped\u00a0for joy in the wombs of their holy mothers, we rejoice and leap for joy as we wait for the great things to come, the fulfillment of God’s promises!<\/p>\n

Yes, we are aware that we wait in darkness. We are overwhelmed and pained by the intensity of oppression suffered throughout the world, near and far. Children sleep on streets, many people lack adequate shelter and water, bombs are being dropped, refugees are fleeing. Poverty, injustice, and violence are real and serious threats upon the dignity of humanity.<\/p>\n

Still, with hope and joy we lovingly labor for a world where God\u2019s reign is known, wherein justice is triumphant.<\/p>\n

No matter our\u00a0circumstances, how can our voices contribute toward the coming fullness of God\u2019s reign? How can we join our voices together and sing a song of reversal that is in harmony with the strength and hope heard in Mary\u2019s song in Luke 1:46-55?<\/p>\n

And Mary said:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMy soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;<\/em><\/p>\n

my spirit rejoices in God my savior.<\/em><\/p>\n

For he has looked upon his handmaid\u2019s lowliness;<\/em><\/p>\n

behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Mighty One has done great things for me,<\/em><\/p>\n

and holy is his name.<\/em><\/p>\n

His mercy is from age to age<\/em><\/p>\n

to those who fear him.<\/em><\/p>\n

He has shown might with his arm,<\/em><\/p>\n

dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.<\/em><\/p>\n

He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones<\/em><\/p>\n

but lifted up the lowly.<\/em><\/p>\n

The hungry he has filled with good things;<\/em><\/p>\n

the rich he has sent away empty.<\/em><\/p>\n

He has helped Israel his servant,<\/em><\/p>\n

remembering his mercy,<\/em><\/p>\n

according to his promise to our fathers,<\/em><\/p>\n

to Abraham and to his descendants forever.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

–Luke 1:46-55<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I recently studied Elizabeth Johnson\u2019s commentary on the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) within her masterful work Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints<\/em> (Continuum, 2003) as part of my graduate studies. This writing encouraged me to remain faithful and hopeful in the midst of the struggle for justice. I was provided a solid footing in information about the requirements for justice.<\/p>\n

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Source: http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Truly-Our-Sister-Theology-Communion\/dp\/0826418279<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For example, even though Mary\u2019s song is the longest speech from any woman in the entire New Testament, it is one of several hymns\u00a0sung by Jewish women; it is parallel in content and structure to what was sung by several prophetesses in the Old Testament. Like their songs, Mary\u2019s song also praises God\u2019s creation of a liberating revolution.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

With scholarship and reverence, Johnson details how Mary\u2019s particular circumstances established her as dangerous for anyone who does not embrace God\u2019s reign. God chose Mary, a poor woman, to be the partner in our salvation and she praises God from the depth of her relationship with God; God has preference for those who are economically and spiritually poor.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Mary was an oppressed woman and her song paints a picture of justice; throughout salvation history we understand that God defines justice as reversal. Mary\u2019s voice foreshadows Jesus\u2019 message in the Gospels. Fittingly then, Mary\u2019s song is a \u201crevolutionary song of salvation whose concrete social, economic, and political dimensions cannot be blunted.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Praise and justice come together; by the life-giving body of the pregnant Mary we know a role model for solidarity with the oppressed. In her message, we can envision a world where all the hungry are fed and all power structures turn upside down.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Mary\u2019s song is a song for everyone, and it is very much music to the ears of people who live in poverty.[5]<\/a> Yet, Johnson admits, \u201cThis message will not appeal to those who are satisfied with the way things are.\u201d She advises that those who are prosperous strengthen their solidarity.[6]<\/a> I was invigorated for my task of informing those of us who comfortably enjoy privileges about the needs of a hungry humanity, of calling all of us to more mindfulness.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Johnson\u2019s commentary on the Magnificat provides me with a hopeful lens through\u00a0which I can view the injustices of today. It taught me how to joyfully sing songs of response that glorify and please God, through both word and deed.<\/p>\n

By Mary\u2019s partnership we experience the dawning of the Messianic Age. Her song is also a daily prayer that can inform our every-day\u00a0work of helping God\u2019s justice reign. In the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer,\u00a0\u201cThis song has none of the sweet, nostalgic, or even playful tones of our Christmas carols. It is instead a hard, strong, inexorable song about collapsing thrones and humbled lords of this world, about the power of God and the powerless of humankind.<\/em>\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

Indeed, as Johnson so clearly articulated, in Mary\u2019s universal song we hear the ultimate Advent hymn\u2014a song of hope to reverse the patterns of suffering prevalent in the world today.<\/p>\n

As we leap in joy and wait in hopeful anticipation for the coming of God’s Kingdom fully known, let us join Mary and do the work of establishing God’s justice while this song rings in our hearts!<\/p>\n

AMEN!<\/p>\n