SHARING GOOD NEWS, EMBRACING STORIES
We are entering the Advent season one more time. Advent is the
celebration of God’s visit to His people.
We see God visiting his people in the Old Testament history- those are
the special times in which God interferes in the life of the people. In the New
covenant, it is God’s visit to humanity in the incarnate son, Jesus the Christ.
Advent brings to our minds the event of Jesus
birth, which is the great story that is told and being shared. It also brings
to our minds the stories of people connected to the main story. We also see how
these events form and shape the lives of people.
Two
Sundays ago we read the story of Zachariah and Elizabeth, the old couple who
had no children, yet their story turned out to be one giving birth to John the
Baptist, the one who prepared for God’s visit. Last Sunday we had the Gospel
reading on the visit of the angel to Mary, announcing God’s choice of her
person for the special vocation of giving birth to the Messiah. Next Sunday’s
Gospel reading, which has been read for our meditation, is about the occasion
of the meeting between Elizabeth and Mary.
As we know, all three readings are from the
Gospel according to Luke. We have come to learn from the New Testament scholars
that Luke was from outside the Palestinian Christian community, probably from
Antioch, belonging to the Greek Christian community. He was a Physician and his
context was the urban setting of the Mediterranean, in the Greco-Roman empire.
Luke wrote the Gospel around the turn of the first century for a new generation
of Christian community, many of whom were part of the rich, urban and
influential society. Luke, writing to Theophilus remembers that there were eye
witnesses, who wrote on the life of Jesus Christ earlier. Now he wanted to
write after careful investigation of the events concerning the life of Jesus,
particularly those which give clear insights on engaging the new situation. In
the new setting where the Christian community was economically and socially
influential, Luke emphasized the significant roles of the least people like
women and the poor in the economy of salvation.
Thus, Luke mentions stories which no other
evangelist does. Though, as a physician, he belonged to the educated and upper
strata of the society, Luke had the sensitivity to see the significance of God’s
interventions with humanity taking place in and around the least and the last. Luke
had a special eye to see the work of God for the least, the last and the lost.
The people/ the families mentioned around the advent are the least ones:
Zachariah and Elizabeth, the family of a priest, and Mary and Joseph, Mary, an
Anawim, belonging to the poor and the oppressed community, and Joseph belonging
to those who kept the law, the Torah, very earnestly. It is mentioned in vs.36
that Elizabeth and Mary were relatives. They were ordinary women, who could
exercise no power or influence, therefore of no consequence. They would not have
been regarded as having any worth.
The passage we have read has two sections. In
the first section, we see Mary visiting Elizabeth and in the second section we
read Mary’s song of praise.
1. The meeting between Mary and Elizabeth is characterized
by expressions of deep joy. It is a meeting which brings mutual experience of
joy. Mary visits Elizabeth in the hill country.
They are relatives and the knowledge that
they are chosen to be part of God’s plan of salvation, make them to be all the
more joyful. They rejoice for the fact that they are partners with God in the
salvation event, and they are contented in their roles. In every meeting of the
people the whole person is involved. A meeting together of people can bring
negative emotions and consequences, in the mind and in the body. But, here,
this meeting is one which is deeply joyful and it makes its impact on their
body and mind. When, Mary greets Elizabeth, the child leaps for joy in
Elizabeth’s womb. The meeting between people can certainly result in deeply
rejoicing experiences which involves both the body and mind. It also results in
the joyful exclamation of Elizabeth that Mary is a blessed woman and the fruit
of her womb is also blessed. Elizabeth is much older in age than Mary, yet she
is willing to acknowledge Mary as the mother of our Lord.
The meeting between Elizabeth and Mary speaks
about the significant manner in which people meet. It is not an occasion of
humiliating the other, nor expressing contempt for the other. It is one of
acknowledging, recognizing and affirming the other’s role in the plan of God
and bringing joy to the other. Such relationships do not look for anything in
return in particular, but it seeks and acknowledges the other’s goodness and what
other’s can do in the building of the kingdom of God.
2. The second part of the passage is from vs
46 to 55, which is Mary’s Song of Praise to God, the Magnificat. It is a
spontaneous pouring forth of Mary’s adoration and praise to God. When the angel
visits Mary in the earlier part of the chapter, her conversation with the angel
reveals that she is fearful. Later she submits herself saying, “I am the Lord’s
servant and let it be to me according to your word”. But Mary’s visit to
Elizabeth, their meeting, conversation and affirmation, helps Mary to turn to
an attitude of praise. It makes her to look at these events from the
perspective of praise.
As we are aware, Mary’s song of praise is
also called her song of revolution, a song of revolutionary spirituality. It is
very similar to Hanna’s song of praise in I Samuel 2. Mary’s song of praise centers
on the mighty works of God who delivers the poor, and brings judgment on the unjust
and those who misuse their power. Mary was part of the Anawim, the poor who
always made petitions to God for their deliverance and justice. Mary’s song of
praise, therefore, is not a lip service, but a deeply felt response to God’s
deliverance of the poor, by choosing a person like her for giving birth to the
Messiah. The Song highlights the following:
1. God indeed listens to the petitions of the
poor and brings justice to the marginalized.
2. God fills the hungry with good things.
3. Mary is emphatic that the unjust will be
stripped of their power.
4. God
is merciful to remember his promise, his covenant.
God’s deliverance of the poor, the hungry,
and God’s mercy are all remembered here. Further, God’s justice and judgment
are also emphasized. In an important sense Mary’s song of praise is continuous
with the Hebrew spirituality.
There is an important connection between
Mary’s song of praise and the ministry of Jesus. We can see that this is due to
Mary’s role as mother and religious teacher in Jesus’ childhood. We can see
that these emphases have gone in to the teachings and ministry of Jesus. Mary
had such immeasurable influence on the life and vocation of Jesus. Jesus
blesses the hungry and opens the banquet doors to the poor. As Mary prays for
the unjust powers, Jesus had confrontation with unjust powers. As Mary prays
for compassion for Israel, Jesus is full of compassion for Israel. As Mary is
concerned about the redemption of Israel, Jesus makes heartfelt prayer for
Jerusalem. Therefore in Mary’s song of praise we see her spirituality. We can
also see that this spirituality is passed on to Jesus.
As we prepare for the birth of Jesus, it is
important to remember the message of this passage. One is to make our times of
meeting as time to celebrate God’s goodness and the manner in which God has
guided us in varied ways. The second is to remember that God’s visit becomes
meaningful for those who passionately look for God’s interventions and desire
for God’s reordering of things. Let us pray that this advent season will be a
meaningful one in our lives.