My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord..
Today is Mary’s birthday. I went on a site ‘Notre Dame du Web’ (Our Lady of the Web); sorry it is in French, and read the Magnificat. Some of the words were highlighted. As I read I was struck to see that what Mary celebrated and rejoiced about in her song was really a completely new perception of God’s nature. Of course she used bits and pieces the Hebrew Scriptures, but the way she puts them together was so new, so fresh, even controversial, and certainly revolutionary. It is still so for us today. Why?
This is what God does she sings! Gone is the vengeful God/Judge, comes in a God completely different.
Mary’s song is the beginning of the Gospel, the Good News brought about by Christ. But isn’t it true that Christ first awareness of God came to him from his mother?
I am wondering as we hear the discourse of the Christian Right if we are talking about the same God. Mary’s and Christ’s God is much more discreet. Much more difficult to understand. Because the ‘superbs’ are still sitting on their throne and the ‘rich’s hands’ are still full, this God is hard to believe in, but so, so much more appealing.
What if it is indeed the true nature of God?
