The Magificat begins with an enormous burst of exuberant praise! A deep throated belly laugh of joy. An eruption of unrestrained gratitude and glee. God has made me, a nobody, a somebody, in a divine scheme that reshapes reality for ALL nobodies. And I will be known forever until the end of time because of what God has done for those at the bottom.
Then Mary goes on to deliver an impassioned, stunning manifesto of liberation. Turning reality on its head. Overturning all power arrangements and hierarchies. This is out and out rebellion!
Yet think of the images we have of the Virgin Mary. The mother of the baby Jesus. She is somewhat two dimensional. Sedate. Passive. Pensive. Calm. Demure. Looking into the face of her new baby Jesus. Looking heavenward. Looking at us in a dolorous fashion. Millions of depictions of Mary. The template for calm and repose.
But I find myself wondering where is the rebel Mary? Where are the images of the revolutionary Mary? The Che Guevara Mary? Where is the liberator Mary? Where is the Mary completely overwhelmed with exuberance and joy? Where is the Mary dancing with abandon with the peasants? Feasting in the new reality of justice? The only overwhelming emotion that we allow Mary is sadness and grief over the death of her son. The Pieta Mary.
I’m wondering if people who are truly filled with exuberant joy are just too hard to, well, control.
Prayer: May we let ourselves be so filled with gratitude and joy, wonder and delight, that we see the stunningly magnificent power of Divine Love working in our lives to create heaven on earth. Amen.
This devotion was prepared by Rev. Kim P. Wells, pastor of Lakewood United Church of Christ in St. Petersburg, FL.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 