Mary's Canticle

 "And Mary said,

'My soul proclaims the greatness of the LORD,

my spirit exults in GOD, my savior!

HE has looked upon HIS servant, in her lowliness,

and people, forever, will call me blessed.

The Mighty One has done great things for me,

Holy is HIS Name!

From age to age, HIS mercy extends

to those who live in HIS presence.

HE has filled the hungry with good things,

but has sent the rich away empty.

HE held out HIS hand to Israel, HIS servant,

for HE remembered HIS mercy,

even as HE promised to our fathers,

to Abraham and his descendants forever.'"

- Luke 1:46-47. 48-49. 50. 53. 54-55

(About Mary's canticle.  Mary, so unobtrusive in the Gospel, having no part in JESUS' ministry, is the one who proclaims the historical revolution begun with the coming of the Savior.

She proclaims:

- the mercy of GOD who always keeps HIS promises,

- the change that is to take place in the human condition.

This is what Martin Luther King, the emancipator of the Blacks, recalled: "Despite the fact that all too often people see in the church a power opposed to any change, in fact, the church preserves a powerful ideal which urges people toward the summits and opens their eyes as to their own destiny.  From the hot spots of Africa to the black areas of Alabama, I have seen men and women rising and shaking off their chains.  They had just discovered they were GOD's children, and that, as GOD's children, it was impossible to enslave them.

The song of Mary also expresses the deepest feeling of the Christian soul.  There is a time for us to seek truth, to discover what our major duties are and to become truly and essentially human.  There is a time for asking from and serving GOD.  In the long run, we come to understand that divine love seeks out what is poorer and weaker to fill it and make it great.  Then our only prayer becomes thanks giving to GOD for HIS understanding and merciful designs.)

On-Site