Not a HYMN of praise but in praise of HIM- Wednesday, 4^th Week in Advent – Luke 1:46- 56

The Magnificat, as we call Mary’s prayer, has become our traditional hymn of gratitude and joy. This is a moment of ecstatic fulfilment, when Mary looks back on all the promises of the Old Testament, and begins to sense and relish her own role in the Lord’s plan.

For Mary this is not a hymn of her praise but her praise of HIM. She declares, “my soul magnifies the Lord,” Mary ‘magnifies’ the Lord. She makes the Lord bigger than anything in the world. This is what love does! When you love someone you never cease to praise and magnify their presence in your life to the world. In fact, the word magnify has its roots in the modern-day word megaphone. Mary is not whispering her joy to the world; she is shouting it out as if she was using every means and method at her disposal to let the world know her joy.

What is behind such unimaginable and ecstatic joy? Mary sees God’s action in her life. “He has done great things for me, holy his name.” Mary is unequivocal not only in her praise of God but also in the source of her blessing. It is the Lord and no one else who has worked great things for her. There is a message in this for us too. Many of us sit smug with the belief that we are who we are because of ‘our hard work’. The fact that we worked hard cannot be denied by anyone but we fall short when we do not acknowledge as St Augustine said, “there go I but for the love of God.” Every ‘great thing’ done in our life comes from his hand.

Mary is also #Blessed. That’s a hashtag that many of us use on Facebook and Instagram. The use of #Blessed for us often indicates comfort or privilege. For Mary it was the opposite. She was blessed because the Lord demanded much from her; she was his handmaid to be done according to His will. There was to be no privilege but many, many challenges ahead. Imagine saying I am #Blessed when more is demanded from you.

Mary was also the ‘favoured’ one NOT the favourite one. She is not picked because God has a special corner in his heart for her. She was not his ‘favourite’ because of who she was but rather that she found favour in his sight. (Luke 1:28&30). The run up to Christmas is a moment of introspection. We want to be God’s favourite child, to be spoilt by him in our pursuit of our earthy life. He wants us to find favour in his sight by saying yes to his call and command to serve him.

Finally, Mary is not blessed because she is going to be the mother of God. She is blessed because she believed. With Mary, I count my blessings, not as a matter of pride or achievement, but to recognize where God is at work in my life. This Christmas, God asks us to open our heart and believe in Jesus his son. To hold him in our hearts dearly for this is the greatest gift we could ever receive.