When preachers and teachers tell the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus, they often draw attention to her brave act of submission. After the angel Gabriel appears to Mary and announces that she is to give birth to the Son of God, Mary responds: "I am the Lord's humble servant. As you have said, let it be done to me" (Luke 1:38). Mary, no doubt aware that she could be stoned as an adulteress for having a child out of wedlock, says Yes to the dangerous, messianic mission presented to her by the angel. Mary is the model of female compliance, or so we have been led to believe throughout much of church history.
The depiction of Mary as an innocent and docile peasant girl is carelessly, perhaps even willfully, selective and incomplete. Sadly, the iconic portrayals of Mary have only served to reinforce the stereotype of a meek and mild Mary. But if we keep reading the story in Luke 1, just a few lines later we find a song erupting from this feisty young girl's mouth, a song which has far-reaching political implications. Like her son, Mary is not afraid to proclaim uncomfortable truths.
My soul lifts up the Lord!
My spirit celebrates God, my Liberator!
For though I’m God’s humble servant,
God has noticed me.
Now and forever,
I will be considered blessed by all generations.
For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
holy is God’s name!
From generation to generation,
God’s lovingkindness endures
for those who revere Him.
God’s arm has accomplished mighty deeds.
The proud in mind and heart,
God has sent away in disarray.
The rulers from their high positions of power,
God has brought down low.
And those who were humble and lowly,
God has elevated with dignity.
The hungry—God has filled with fine food.
The rich—God has dismissed with nothing in their hands.
To Israel, God’s servant,
God has given help,
As promised to our ancestors,
remembering Abraham and his descendants in mercy forever.(Luke 1, The Voice)
This song, commonly referred to as the Magnificat, celebrates God as Liberator, a God who takes down the proud and those in positions of power, who elevates and gives dignity to the humble and lowly, who provides food for the hungry and sends the rich away empty-handed. [1] Though we tend to associate salvation with forgiveness of sins, the Jews (due to their history of slavery and subjugation) equated salvation with liberation. They eagerly awaited the Messiah not because he would alleviate guilty consciences and rescue them from eternal damnation, but because the Chosen One would free an oppressed people from prolonged, systemic injustice.
Ryan Kuja observes: "Mary, a socially and politically marginalized Jew in a region occupied by the Roman Empire, lived at the lowest strata of Ancient Near Eastern society, which was also deeply patriarchal. Women were not considered to be full citizens or even fully human. In this context of living at the margins with regard to social location, gender, and economic status, Mary announces that the unjust structures that have fashioned her and her people into a subaltern state of existence were being reversed. ... Her song of praise, then, isn’t a submissive canticle of compliance to God’s will as is told from pulpits nationwide every December. Her canticle isn’t lyrically docile. It is praise at its most raw, untamed, and status-quo disrupting. Let there be no mistake—Marian doxology invites revolution." [2]
Lest one think that Kuja is overstating the implications of Mary's song, take a look at recent history. Several political regimes tried to quash the revolutionary message found in the Magnificat. The British banned it in India during their colonial rule of that country. In the 1980s, public readings of the Magnificat were forbidden in Guatemala. Argentina outlawed the subversive words during the Dirty War after they were used in public demonstrations by mothers protesting the disappearance of their children. [3] Make no mistake, Mary's words were not the dreamy gushings of an idealistic teenager; they were (and are) a prophetic proclamation of a new order which upends social, political, and economic systems of power. This new order is the kingdom of heaven as proclaimed by Jesus, the liberator.
Mary is not the only character associated with Christmas who has been morphed into a kinder, gentler version of herself. The story of Saint Nicholas has also been reshaped in order to better serve the innocuous nostalgia we now associate with the season. Nicholas (270-343), a bishop in Asia Minor, was persecuted and imprisoned for his faith until Christianity found favour under Constantine's rule. The bishop came into a substantial inheritance when his parents died and there are many legends telling of Nicholas's good works. The most popular one has to do with a family who was desperately poor. The father could find no way to support his three daughters and it seemed that the only option was for the young women to give themselves over to prostitution in order for the family to survive. Nicholas heard of their plight and went to their home, tossing three bags of gold into an open window (some versions have him tossing the gold bags down the chimney), thus saving the family from a terrible fate. Much of the legend of Saint Nicholas has been edited out of the modern character of Santa Claus, a jolly old man dressed in red who rewards good boys and girls with toys and goodies. In contrast, the real Saint Nicholas was a liberator, freeing the oppressed from poverty and desperation. In Nicholas's benevolent acts, we see the economic reversal so bravely and hopefully proclaimed in the Magnificat.
In Luke 1, Mary's song begins with these words: "My soul lifts up the Lord! My spirit celebrates God, my Liberator! For though I'm God's humble servant, God has noticed me" (Luke 1, The Voice). In Luke chapter 4, Jesus's first public declaration (on record) after his baptism echoes the Magnificat's theme of liberation. In the synagogue, he reads the following words from Isaiah: "The Eternal designated me to be His representative to the poor, to preach good news to them. He sent me to tell those who are held captive that they can now be set free, and to tell the blind that they can now see. He sent me to liberate those held down by oppression" (Luke 4, The Voice).
Before Jesus is born, Mary sings a song which celebrates God as Liberator. At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus announces that he has come to liberate those who are suppressed and mistreated. Coming from the lips of the marginalized, these are strong words, polarizing words. For those in positions of power, a message of liberation is threatening and cause for increased security measures. For those who are oppressed, the message of liberation is salvation and cause for celebration. May we be people who celebrate the Liberator.
Suggested prayers:
Come, Lord Jesus, liberate us from...
Come, Lord Jesus, teach us to be liberators to...
----------------------------
[1] In the process of writing this, I did a search for an illustrated version of the Magnificat. Sadly, most of the English illustrations I came across only quoted the first half of the song, choosing to omit the latter part which deals with justice for the oppressed. The Spanish versions I found quoted the song in its entirety.
[2] Ryan Kuja. "Modern Mary: What a Pregnant Refugee Minority Teenager Would Sing Today." http://ryankuja.com/blog/modern-mary-what-a-pregnant-refugee-minority-teenager-would-sing-today/
[3] Susan Connelly, RSJ. "The Magnificat as Social Document." Compass (Summer, 2014). http://compassreview.org/summer14/3.pdf
Image by Diocese of Camden
Ryan Kuja observes: "Mary, a socially and politically marginalized Jew in a region occupied by the Roman Empire, lived at the lowest strata of Ancient Near Eastern society, which was also deeply patriarchal. Women were not considered to be full citizens or even fully human. In this context of living at the margins with regard to social location, gender, and economic status, Mary announces that the unjust structures that have fashioned her and her people into a subaltern state of existence were being reversed. ... Her song of praise, then, isn’t a submissive canticle of compliance to God’s will as is told from pulpits nationwide every December. Her canticle isn’t lyrically docile. It is praise at its most raw, untamed, and status-quo disrupting. Let there be no mistake—Marian doxology invites revolution." [2]
Lest one think that Kuja is overstating the implications of Mary's song, take a look at recent history. Several political regimes tried to quash the revolutionary message found in the Magnificat. The British banned it in India during their colonial rule of that country. In the 1980s, public readings of the Magnificat were forbidden in Guatemala. Argentina outlawed the subversive words during the Dirty War after they were used in public demonstrations by mothers protesting the disappearance of their children. [3] Make no mistake, Mary's words were not the dreamy gushings of an idealistic teenager; they were (and are) a prophetic proclamation of a new order which upends social, political, and economic systems of power. This new order is the kingdom of heaven as proclaimed by Jesus, the liberator.
Mary is not the only character associated with Christmas who has been morphed into a kinder, gentler version of herself. The story of Saint Nicholas has also been reshaped in order to better serve the innocuous nostalgia we now associate with the season. Nicholas (270-343), a bishop in Asia Minor, was persecuted and imprisoned for his faith until Christianity found favour under Constantine's rule. The bishop came into a substantial inheritance when his parents died and there are many legends telling of Nicholas's good works. The most popular one has to do with a family who was desperately poor. The father could find no way to support his three daughters and it seemed that the only option was for the young women to give themselves over to prostitution in order for the family to survive. Nicholas heard of their plight and went to their home, tossing three bags of gold into an open window (some versions have him tossing the gold bags down the chimney), thus saving the family from a terrible fate. Much of the legend of Saint Nicholas has been edited out of the modern character of Santa Claus, a jolly old man dressed in red who rewards good boys and girls with toys and goodies. In contrast, the real Saint Nicholas was a liberator, freeing the oppressed from poverty and desperation. In Nicholas's benevolent acts, we see the economic reversal so bravely and hopefully proclaimed in the Magnificat.
In Luke 1, Mary's song begins with these words: "My soul lifts up the Lord! My spirit celebrates God, my Liberator! For though I'm God's humble servant, God has noticed me" (Luke 1, The Voice). In Luke chapter 4, Jesus's first public declaration (on record) after his baptism echoes the Magnificat's theme of liberation. In the synagogue, he reads the following words from Isaiah: "The Eternal designated me to be His representative to the poor, to preach good news to them. He sent me to tell those who are held captive that they can now be set free, and to tell the blind that they can now see. He sent me to liberate those held down by oppression" (Luke 4, The Voice).
Before Jesus is born, Mary sings a song which celebrates God as Liberator. At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus announces that he has come to liberate those who are suppressed and mistreated. Coming from the lips of the marginalized, these are strong words, polarizing words. For those in positions of power, a message of liberation is threatening and cause for increased security measures. For those who are oppressed, the message of liberation is salvation and cause for celebration. May we be people who celebrate the Liberator.
Suggested prayers:
Come, Lord Jesus, liberate us from...
Come, Lord Jesus, teach us to be liberators to...
----------------------------
[1] In the process of writing this, I did a search for an illustrated version of the Magnificat. Sadly, most of the English illustrations I came across only quoted the first half of the song, choosing to omit the latter part which deals with justice for the oppressed. The Spanish versions I found quoted the song in its entirety.
[2] Ryan Kuja. "Modern Mary: What a Pregnant Refugee Minority Teenager Would Sing Today." http://ryankuja.com/blog/modern-mary-what-a-pregnant-refugee-minority-teenager-would-sing-today/
[3] Susan Connelly, RSJ. "The Magnificat as Social Document." Compass (Summer, 2014). http://compassreview.org/summer14/3.pdf
Image by Diocese of Camden
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