Today's Lectionary TextLuke 1:39-55In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, ![]() Today's Devotional
This section of Luke's gospel is often referred to as the Magnificat. Magnificat is Latin for 'My soul magnifies the Lord', the very first line in this section of scripture.
Mary responds to God's extraordinary call upon her life with joy, even though it comes with complicated social strings attached. She is engaged to a good man and the child is not his. She is a virgin, but others do not believe this is so. She has been told by angels she is to bear the savior, but few believe her. Read the scripture above a second time, then go to our Facebook page and answer one of the following questions: A humble statement from a girl of God's chosen people but unimportant in every other way. We know from scripture that the angels visit her, Joseph and the Holy Spirit comes upon Elizabeth in this passage. Curiously there is no mention of Mary's parents. What do you think they thought of this situation? If you read the Magnificat portion with a sense of wonder as if you are Mary working these thoughts out loud for the first time how does that change the meaning for you? How can we too be filled with joy when faced with difficult situations? |
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