Assumption of Mary, Saturday – 15th August 2020 — Gospel: Lk 1,39-56
Recognition and Encounter
Mary is a model of faith. If her son will later function as the “second Adam” in the temptation in the wilderness, Mary appears here as something of a “second Eve,” representing all humanity in her faithful embrace of her role in God’s plan of salvation. In this narrative Luke portrays an exclusive meeting of two women speaking and exchanging their views, which is often overlooked or ignored both in society at large and in biblical narratives. Further, he carefully contrasts this poor, unknown, and unremarkable teenage girl with Zechariah the priest. Zechariah though struck with wonder and expresses doubt, Mary trusts the angel’s prophecy. Hence, and somewhat ironically, the child in Elizabeth’s womb – Zechariah’s son – leaps in joy, recognizing the onset of salvation in Mary’s faith in God’s promises. Mary, with her mixture of wonder, faith and courage, is surely worthy of our attention and imitation.
In her counter with Elizabeth, Mary recognizes that she has been drawn into a relationship with the God of Israel. He is the One who has been siding with the oppressed and downtrodden since the days of Egypt, and the One who has been making and keeping promises since the time of Abraham. Recalling these events of the past does not signify that all Mary sings of has been accomplished, but rather describes God’s characteristic activity and acknowledges that Mary is now included in God’s history of redemption. The Holy One of Israel chose ordinary Mary to do extraordinary things. Mary promises that the Holy One of Israel may also encounter us amid the ordinary, mundane and even difficult activities of daily life. This is the God of reversals, the one who regularly shows up where we least expect God to be – manger, cross, vulnerability, suffering – in order to scatter the proud, exact the lowly, satisfy the hungry, and send the rich away empty. Her song of praise and thanksgiving unite us with the One to whom we need to lift our voices. And her canticle of courage and promise not only name our hopes but also contribute to bringing them into reality.
