Last week, the Magnificat was part of the devotional readings, and while I know and have sung those words many times, there was something fresh in this reading.
It begins with a visitation from an angel, identified as Gabriel, to a young woman engaged to be married. Gabriel greets her, calling her "favored one" and assures her that the Lord is with her.
But she is perplexed.
Throughout most of this visit, she is quiet, pondering, questioning, listening.
The angel gives her unbelievable news. She has been chosen to have a child, whom she is to give the name, Jesus. This child will be great. He will be called the Son of the Most High. God will give him the throne of David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will not end.
Mary does not rejoice. She does not burst out with singing or laughter or excitement.
She asks a question.
"How can this be?"
So the angel gives her a discreet version of the details,
emphasizing that this child will be holy,
the Son of God.
But the angel doesn't stop there.
Gabriel gives her a companion, a woman she knows well, a relative.
Elizabeth is also experiencing something unfathomable.
Mary receives this news that she is not alone.
She has another woman to walk through this with her.
And then...
Mary consents,
calling herself the servant of the Lord.
Maybe she would have consented anyway, who knows? But I find it so wonderful that she was given someone to walk alongside her who would understand completely what Mary was going through. It was a kind of validation that this role she is being given requires a companion, and that God saw her need and fulfilled it without her even asking.
Then Mary sets out 'with haste' to see her relative, Elizabeth. What must she have thought about during that journey? Did she travel alone? Was she afraid of what was happening to her? Did she still believe it was real? Could she sleep at night? Did she have obsessive repetitive worrisome thoughts like I do when facing tasks that are too big for me? None of these questions are answered.
What we know is this. She was greeted by Elizabeth with enthusiasm, with awe, filled with the Holy Spirit, and Elizabeth immediately confirmed all that the angel had told Mary, even before Mary had a chance to say anything.
Elizabeth, this loving older woman who has suffered throughout her life from her childlessness, feels her unborn child leap within her at the sound of Mary's greeting. She welcomes Mary with joy and awe and gratitude, and Mary is no longer alone with her news, and her questions, and her miraculous pregnancy. She has another woman walking alongside her, seeing her for who she is, understanding her in ways no one else could possibly understand her.
That is the moment when Mary bursts out with what we now call the Magnificat. It is when she finds another woman in the middle of an impossible miracle who believes her even before she speaks. That meeting of these two women gives Mary the power and the joy to speak this amazing prophecy.
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
For he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
For the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with him arm;
He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;
He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
According to the promise he made to our ancestors,
To Abraham and to his descendants forever.
* * * * *
There is a strength of women together that God understands. Giving Mary and Elizabeth to each other at this tender time in the lives of both of them is powerful wisdom in knowing the solidarity and companionship they both would need.
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