January 1, 2015
On this day every year we celebrate a World Day of
Peace and also have a solemn celebration in honor of Mary Mother of God.
How are these two commemorations related to one
another?
We name Mary Queen of Peace.
What does the Gospel story tell us about her that
inspires us to consider her the patron saint of the peace we long for?
A good place to begin is with the song that she sings
in her meeting with her cousin Elizabeth, the song we call Magnificat from its first
word in Latin.
This song is the longest speech of Mary or of any
other woman in the Gospels. What can we learn
from it
The Magnificat proclaims a new world order in which
people meet on the same level.
The proud are scattered, so they are everywhere.
Is this so that they might come face to face with the
lowly?
Proverbs says, "God opposes the proud but gives
grace to the humble" When the proud are scattered, do they discover this
amazing blessing of the lowly?
Is that what confuses and confounds their
thoughts?
Perhaps being scattered is a blessing in
disguise.
When mighty rulers are brought down from their thrones
are they confronted with the powerful goodness of the common people?
Are the lowly raised to high places as Mary has been
raised, so that they can speak without fear to those who appear far above
them?
If Mary has been so exalted, is there not hope for all
the lowly?
When the rich are sent away empty, do they realize
their true hunger? Does this hunger not
only for food but for God bring them back to accept humbly the food their
brothers and sisters will share with them?
Mary's song can only be good news if its message is not
"reversal" but mutuality.
If she proclaims simply that the oppressors will
become the oppressed, then there is no hope for us.
What she proclaims is not this "no-win"
situation but true shalom. Shalom is not
only peace, as we often assume.
Shalom is that situation in which everyone has what is
necessary for a full life.
Those who thought they had to trust in their own power
and lord it over others discover that the One who has all power has come down
to meet them in their lowliness.
Those who hoarded material goods out of fear that they
might someday not have enough discover that God truly gives us our daily bread
and that we are meant to share it with one another.
The arrogant who relied only on their own gifts
realize that true blessedness comes through working together.
This is the message of Mary's Magnificat.
This is the blessedness that Elizabeth proclaims.
But this shalom is not easily accomplished.
Fear is a powerful deterrent.
Today we are plagued by a culture of fear.
We think the way to eradicate it is by making war
against terrorism. We live in suspicion
of one another and of any stranger.
We gate our communities and search our travelers.
We hunker down and hope for better days.
But Mary's song is not a song of fear but of
freedom.
Imagine what the world would be like if the
"world powers" offered to meet smaller, weaker nations humbly,
offering their resources in exchange for the wisdom
these other peoples have to share?
Imagine what would happen if we used all our
technological wizardry to distribute the food we are well capable of producing
so that no one went hungry and no one was overfed?
I wonder: Can we allow ourselves to imagine?
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