The Magnificat

One

The Proto-Pentecost

The Visitation, the second joyful mystery, is sometimes called the first Pentecost.

Remember what happens at Pentecost? Mary is there, the Holy Spirit is there, and the two of them help the disciples gathered in the Upper Room receive Jesus into their souls, becoming the Body of Christ, the Church.  

That’s what happens at the Visitation: Mary and the Holy Spirit come to Elizabeth and John to help them receive Jesus. And receiving Jesus in their midst, John leapt in her womb and Elizabeth sings with joy – because Jesus, the Savior of the World has come to them."

Here at the Visitation, we see exactly what Mary does. Filled with the Holy Spirit She comes into our life and disposes us, prepares us, helps us receive Jesus. 

Jesus always wants to give himself, but we just can’t seem to receive Him. We have too many blockages, too many disordered attachments.  

So, ask Mary to visit you, let the mystery of the Visitation continue in you. Invite her into your soul and she will dispose you to receive Jesus this Christmas and you too will experience Joy. 

Two

The Joy of Mary

The Mother of God is very often depicted as the Mater Dolorosa, the sorrowful mother. We think of her in the pieta or at the foot of the cross. We see images of her with her heart pierced by thorns. But we mustn’t forget that here, in the Magnificat, where we hear more words from Mary than in any other place in Scripture, what she expresses is not sorrow, not broken grief, but pure, heavenly joy.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.

So what can Mary, here at the visitation, tell us about joy?

Three

Mary’s Joy in Her Humility 

The foundation for Mary’s joy is her humility. She is the Queen of heaven and earth, she is the Mother of God, she is the most perfect of all created persons.

And yet how does she think of herself? As a humble handmaid. As a lowly servant.

And when you know you are small, you can’t help but be astonished and grateful for all the great things the Lord does for you.

Put it another way: you can’t be happy if you take yourself too seriously, if you put unrealistic pressure on yourself and others to perform, if you don’t take yourself lightly. 

Mary teaches us humility. Humility is to know the greatness of yourself and your littleness and live in both at the same time. 

God has made you something very great, His sons and daughters bearing the divine life within us. So rejoice in that and live like it!

At the same time, we have all kinds of limitations. But if you accept your limitations and surrender them to the Lord, he will fill those with himself, with his power, with his wisdom, so even our limitations can become a source of rejoicing.  

Well, that’s pretty exciting. That’s pretty great. That should make you happy. That should make you rejoice in the Lord.

Four

Mary’s Thoughtfulness of Someone Else

Why did the Visitation happen in the first place?

Because, if you remember, when Gabriel was telling Mary that she was going to be the Mother of the Messiah, he also mentioned that Elizabeth was pregnant.

So what does Mary do? What’s her first impulse? To figure out how she’s going to navigate her own situation? To start nesting, or arranging things for her own new and all-important child?

Actually, no. She is so excited about the wonderful blessing God has done for her cousin Elizabeth, that she rushes off to visit her.

That’s the second great secret to joy, to be thrilled when something good happens for somebody else. If you love someone else, then your capacity for joy gets bigger because you can delight not only in the good things that happen to you but the good things that happen to them.

Can we do that? Can we stop comparing our situation with other people’s, stop seeing our gifts as somehow in competition with each other? Can we try to be as happy for someone else as we are for ourselves?

Then we’ll know how to be happy like Mary.

Five

Mary’s Appreciation for God’s surprising deeds

Most importantly, Mary rejoices in the Lord and in the Great Things He Has Done.

How does she do that? By paying attention to how surprising God’s goodness is. God defies human logic and human expectations. He pulls down the mighty, he raises up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.

Those who were self-satisfied now realize they’re missing everything, and those who were longing for more, who felt their faults and their defects, those are the ones who are going to find happiness.

God turns the world on its head. God comes down to earth, man rises up to heaven. Everything goes topsy-turvy. He’s a good God, He’s an exciting God. He keeps you guessing but it’s always a brilliant, beautiful production. 

If you meditate, if you pray, if you “ponder in your heart” like Mary did, you will see the surprising goodness of God in the Scriptures, in history, in the Church, in your life, and in the lives of your friends and family. And you will rejoice in the Lord. For the Almighty has done great things for all of us. And holy is His name. 

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