Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Psalm for Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011

Reflections

Luke 1: 46-50, 53-54

Mary, the mother of our Lord,
speaks this psalm of praise (the Magnificat)
to God in the words of a humble servant:
“ For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness.”

Despite her elevated position as God’s chosen instrument,
Mary does not exalt herself – she exalts God the Father.
Her soul “proclaims the greatness of the Lord .”
She glorifies the Lord;
“The Mighty One has done great things for me.”
Mary is truly God’s anointed one,
and the spirit of the Lord is upon her;
she “rejoices heartily in the Lord.”

And Mary inspires us:
we too are God’s lowly creatures,
and we should expect the Lord
to do great things for us as well.
We too should expect to be singled out
by the Lord to do his work.
This is our food (to do the Lord’s work)
just as it was for Jesus the Son.

Mary testifies to the light
(as does John the Baptist in our Gospel reading.)
Because of Mary’s faith,
the Old Testament promises are fulfilled,
and the tide is turned—as the Psalm says,
“the hungry (that is who we are) are filled with good things.”

Amen


Discussion Questions for Reflection:

1. Our Blessed Mother says, "the Almighty has done great things for me." In what way do you also believe that God has done great things for you, and how have you responded?

2. Mary declares that God has filled the 'hungry' with good things. Do you consider yourself one of the hungry ones? And if so, in what way has the Lord fed you with good things?





No comments:

Post a Comment