Advent IV

Advent IV My soul magnifies the Lord

.Mary was a young woman full of grace.

From this passage of scripture we can deduce several things about Mary.

First: she had memorized scripture. Her magnificat quotes extensively from Hannah’s song of praise in the book of I Samuel. She is well acquainted with the mighty acts of God in the history of Israel from Abraham to the prophets.

Second, her family were likely Pharisees. The Sadducees only accepted the first five books of the Bible as authoritative. Mary quoted the books the Pharisees accepted as part of the divine revelation.

Third, she manifested great humility. When her cousin Elizabeth praised Mary’s faith Mary immediately offered the praise and the blessing to God.

Fourth, Mary sought to help others. She visited her elderly cousin Elizabeth to help Elizabeth during the time of her pregnancy.

Fifth, Mary was a woman of faith. She heard the word of God, she believed the word of God, she formed her soul in accord with the word of God.

Sixth, Mary lived a life of joy in the Lord. The Bible says, the joy of the Lord is our strength. Mary lived a life of courage and conviction through her joy in God. Her life was not always easy or pain free. But, she lived her life with the awareness of the Divine Presence and in that Presence knew joy.

Seventh, Mary revealed that her soul was a soul immersed in the love of God through worship. The scripture reveals very little about Mary but what it does reveal is a young woman who was dedicated to Bible study, prayer, service to others and worship.

So it was that when the archangel Gabriel greeted Mary he said: Hail Mary, full of grace.
Grace is God’s unmerited favor towards us.

Grace is a gift. We cannot earn it. We cannot lose it. We can choose to accept it or to reject it. Where so many people throughout history have said no to God, Mary said yes.

Grace is the Divine Presence making Himself available to us.

Where so many people throughout history have debated and discussed and attempted to debunk the existence of God, Mary chose to live in the Divine Presence.

The Divine Presence transcends human categories of existence or essence. The Divine Presence makes himself known to us in every moment and every aspect and every experience of our lives. Most of us most of the time choose to shut out that Presence. Most of us most of the time blame God for not being more obvious in proving his existence to us.

God never proves his existence. God is the "I AM" who transcends existence and makes existence possible. Mary knew this. How she knew this is revealed in part through her character. Mary’s character partakes of the divine image and likeness.

Drawing on divine grace, Mary chose to form her soul in union with God’s eternal love and infinite holiness.

She met the challenges and sorrows of her life from the place of grace. That place is the conscious awareness of divine love and holiness.

Those choices Mary made in her life are the same choices we can make. The very first and basic choice is to pay attention. People in our secular world reject God and say God is not speaking. Mary testifies that the problem is not with God. It is with people.

People aren’t listening. We aren’t listening because we are not paying attention to life at the most basic level. In Western society there is an abundance of distraction and noise and deceit that keeps us from perceiving the reality of the Divine Presence.

What is the solution?

There are many. Mary shows us a few. Memorizing scripture is one. Praying. Helping others. Listening to others. Practice being present to others. Practice being present to ourselves. Silent prayer, meditation, contemplation. Worship.

There are thousands of reasons why we reject this approach to life. The main complaint in our culture is: I’m too busy. The spiritual foundation for the tendency to resist the Divine Presence is fear.

The soul that is lost in separation from God fears that God will impose his will on us and punish us if we fail to be obedient. The soul lost in separation also fears that life will be proven meaningless if God does not exist. The logical choice the soul creates is unbearable. It says: if God is real he must give me whatever I want. If I don’t get what I want then either God is punishing me or God is not real.

God sent Jesus into the world to break this vicious circle of human logic. Jesus not only tells us that God is love. Jesus shows us that God is love. Perfect love.

Perfect love transforms fear into faith. It begins with a real choice to say yes to God. It may happen in a dramatic conversion experience as we see in the life of St. Paul. It may happen more gradually over a number of years as we see in the life of the beloved apostle John. It may even happen from early childhood as we see in Mary.

To live life in the Divine Presence is to live life to its fullest potential. We may still be doing the same things we’ve always done: working, paying bills, raising children, socializing with friends. We may find that some things we once did out of habit reveal themselves to be unsatisfying and meaningless.

It is the soul that makes a conscious self responsible choice to receive the grace God offers that experiences life from the place of faith, hope and love. It is that soul that attunes to the Divine Presence in all circumstances of life and sings: My soul magnifies the Lord.