MagnificatDecember 21, 2020

Magnificat

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

who has looked with favor on Her lowly servant.

-Luke 1:46

“God [chooses to make] a home among the very people the world casts aside. And in her defiant prayer, Mary—a dark-skinned woman, a refugee, a religious minority in an occupied land—names this reality.” Rachel Held Evans

“This is not gentle Mary meek and mild. This is a woman who believes deep down in her bones that her Creator is a God of holy subversion, a God who is still at work bringing hope and peace where there is despair and destruction.” Rev. Elizabeth Smith-Bartlett

“Then that little man in black there, he says women can’t have as much rights as men, ‘cause Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman!” Sojourner Truth

Mary, Rachel, Elizabeth and Sojourner proclaim to us in this Advent season that God chooses sides. So do we but I know I too often choose sides in an effort to separate, to claim superiority, to be right. (I do love to be right!) God chooses sides so that all might be included: the poor and stinky shepherds, the rich kings who can afford to travel, the oppressed young couple in a country that despises them, the beaten slave, the woman who is refused education in her country, the man who longs for employment, the immigrant escaping gangs, the addict who needs treatment again, the exhausted caregiver, the tortured transgender teen, the cisgender ally… The list goes on, doesn’t it? Pay attention in the week ahead to where God may be making a home in your life, desiring to include you in the divine womb where all are given life. And then where are you asked to make a home for others? Proclaim the greatness of God who chooses each and every one of us each and every day.

Sister Laura Bregar