May 30, 2025 • 29 mins
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Luke 1: 39-56 - 'The almighty has done great things for me.'
Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:
- 2619 (in 'The Prayer of the Virgin Mary') - That is why the Canticle of Mary, The Magnificat (Latin) or Megalynei (byzantine) is the song both of the Mother of God and of the Church; the song of the Daughter of Zion and of the new People of God; the song of thanksgiving for the fullness of graces poured out in the economy of salvation and the song of the "poor" whose hope is met by the fulfillment of the promises made to our ancestors, "to Abraham and to his posterity for ever."
- 2097 (in 'Adoration') - To adore God is to acknowledge, in respect and absolute submission, the "nothingness of the creature" who would not exist but for God. To adore God is to praise and exalt him and to humble oneself, as Mary did in the Magnificat, confessing with gratitude that he has done great things and holy is his name (abbreviated).
- 148 (in 'Mary - Blessed is she who believed') - The Virgin Mary most perfectly embodies the obedience of faith. By faith Mary welcomes the tidings and promise brought by the angel Gabriel, believing that "with God nothing will be impossible" and so giving her assent: "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word." Elizabeth greeted her: "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." It is for this faith that all generations have called Mary blessed.
- 971 (in 'Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary') - "All generations will call me blessed": "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship." The Church rightly honors "the Blessed Virgin with special devotion (abbreviated).
- 273 (in 'The Mystery of God's apparent powerlessness') - Only faith can embrace the mysterious ways of God's almighty power. This faith glories in its weaknesses in order to draw to itself Christ's power. The Virgin Mary is the supreme model of this faith, for she believed that "nothing will be impossible with God", and was able to magnify the Lord: "For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name." (abbreviated).
- 2599 (in 'Jesus prays') - The Son of God who became Son of the Virgin learned to pray according to his human heart. He learns the formulas of prayer from his mother, who kept in her heart and meditated upon all the "great things" done by the Almighty (abbreviated)
- 422 (in 'The Good News: God has sent his son') - But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.' This is 'the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God': God has visited his people. He has fulfilled the promise he made to Abraham and his descendants. He acted far beyond all expectation - he has sent his own 'beloved Son'.
- 523 (in 'The Preparations')
- 717 (in 'John, precursor, prophet and baptist')
- 2676-2677 (in 'Communion with the Holy Mother of God')
- 448 (in 'LORD')
- 495 (in 'Mary's Divine Motherhood')
- 148 (in 'Blessed is she who believed')
- 722 (in '
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:11):
Hi everyone, welcome back to logical Bible study.
In this podcast, we're all aboutlooking at the gospel from
today's mass and having a look at the literal sense of the
text. What is the text mean on the
most fundamental level? What do the words mean?
What was the author trying to get at all of those are the kind
of things that we try and help you understand.
In this podcast today, we're looking at a text, which will be
(00:33):
familiar to many of you Catholics.
So, let's jump into it. Luke chapter 1 verses 39.
Mary set out and went as quicklyas she could to a town in the
Hill Country of Judah, she went into zechariah's house and
greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard
(00:54):
Mary's greeting, the child left in her womb and Elizabeth was
filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said of
all women, you are the most blessed and blessed is the fruit
of your womb. Why should I be honored with a
visit from the mother of my lordfor the moment, your greeting
reached my ears? The child in my womb, leaped for
(01:15):
joy. Yes.
Blessed. Is she who believed that?
The promise made her by the Lordwould be fulfilled.
And Mary said, my soul proclaimsthe greatness of the Lord.
And my spirit exalts in God, my savior because he has looked
upon his lowly handmade. Yes.
From this day forward, all generations will call me blessed
(01:38):
for the almighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name, and his Mercy reaches from age to age, for
those who fear Him He has shown the power of his arm, he has
routed the proud of heart. He has pulled down prince's from
their Thrones, and exalted, the lowly the hungry.
He has filled with good things, the rich sent away empty.
(02:02):
He has come to the help of Israel.
His servant. Mindful of his Mercy according
to the promise, he made to our ancestors of his Mercy to
Abraham and to his descendants forever.
So Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went
back home. So let's start by thinking about
(02:24):
the context here, where in Luke chapter one.
About halfway through that big chapter, where Luke tells us
quite a lot of the background ofthe birth of both Jesus, and
John the Baptist. So, what's the context?
Well, just prior to this Mary, has found out that Elizabeth is
pregnant and also, Mary herself has found out that she'll be
pregnant and that, of course, happens in the famous
(02:45):
Annunciation scene. So if you want to hear an
exegesis of the Annunciation scene verses 26 to 38, it's
Several times in the liturgical year.
So December 20th every year and then the solemnity of the
Annunciation. It's red and then it's red on
the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, as well, so that's
one of the most common readings in the lectionary but now we get
(03:08):
to verse 39 today. So Mary has found out that
Elizabeth is pregnant so she sets out to go find Elizabeth At
the time of leaving made Mary iseither not yet pregnant or has
just become pregnant. It's not entirely clear.
When Mary has when married herself gets pregnant but
certainly Elizabeth is pregnant.That's why Mary leaves to go
(03:31):
visit Elizabeth in her pregnancyand the text says she goes as
quickly as she can to a town in the Hill Country.
So the text doesn't tell us where exactly Elizabeth and
Zachariah live. But there is a traditional site
called Ein Karem and that is near Jerusalem.
So that would certainly fit the Description that we have here.
You can actually go there today to the ruins of that Village and
(03:53):
the place where they think Elizabeth may have lived.
And I've actually been there, it's quite a powerful
experience. So I encourage him is a is near
Jerusalem, and so that's helpfulfor Zechariah.
It's probably about five miles from the temple.
So, Zechariah works at the temple.
So it makes sense that he would live in on Korean, which is just
outside of Jerusalem, but Mary does not live anywhere near
(04:16):
Jerusalem, Mary lives in Nazareth.
So for her to get to Elizabeth'shouse from Nazareth to Ein,
Karem, we're talking 90 miles. So she it's a five or six day
walk for Mary to go visit Elizabeth this time.
She's Not accompanied by Joseph.As far as we know, Joseph might
have been working at this time. Still, but she probably did
have, she was in a walking Caravan of some kind.
(04:38):
It was quite common for people to travel from Galilee down to
Judea. So she enters the house of
Elizabeth and Zachariah and as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's
greeting the child left in her womb so the child in Elizabeth's
womb leaps when she hears Mary'svoice.
So, the child in Elizabeth's womb is, of course, John John
(05:01):
senses, the voice of Mary, and leaps, for joy that fulfills
what Gabriel said to Zechariah earlier.
Remember when Gabriel appears toZechariah.
One of the things he says, is your child, John will be filled
with the spirit even from his mother's womb.
So that was in chapter verse 15 of chapter one.
And there's also other parallelshere all the way through this
(05:23):
text, you'll see some Old Testament echoes.
Quite clear ones actually. And this particular one where
the child leaps in Elizabeth's womb, this parallels the
experience of Rebecca in Genesis25.
So Rebecca is the mother of Jacob and Esau.
And in Genesis 25, the same Greek word, therefore leap is
used to describe her children stirring in her womb and
(05:45):
interestingly in Rebecca's case,the child, the children moving
in her womb represented. The fact that Jacob is going to
outrank Esau, even though Jacob was younger And here Elizabeth's
experience when John Moves In the Womb, that is a sign that
Jesus would be greater than his older cousin John.
As we see later in Luke 3, 16. So interesting connections there
(06:09):
with Rebecca, of course this hasimplications of how we should
think of unborn children as well.
Because here we have children inthe womb responding to outside
stimuli in a really interesting way.
And so there's some implicationshere about how we think about
abortion and the issue. Is around that, it says
Elizabeth was filled with the holy spirit, so notice that
(06:30):
she's filled with the holy spirit.
It's a supernatural feeling. So Elizabeth is filled with the
Holy Spirit. And she says, in verse 42,
remember, she's basically being inspired by the spirit here.
Blessed. Are you among women?
Now, what it actually says therein the Greek is, it's a
superlative. So Elizabeth says to Mary.
Most Blessed Are You among women?
(06:51):
Because of the special role. God has given her and Elizabeth
empowered by the spirit. Is that Elizabeth here?
Actually uses the same words that were spoken to the women,
jail and Judith. Some of the Lesser known
characters in the Old Testament,the women jail and Judith are in
Judges chapter 5 and then Judgeschapter 13 fascinating parallel
here because both women jail andJudith.
(07:13):
They became famous among the Israelites because they killed
the opposing enemy military commanders by giving them a
mortal blow to the Head. Well, Mary is going to Bear a
son, who will crush Satan's Headas well, it specifically says
that in Genesis 3, verse 15. So notice all these interesting
parallels here with women in theOld Testament.
(07:34):
Clearly Mary here is being presented by God as the
Fulfillment of all of the femalearchetypes in the Old Testament.
Mary is like the perfect Israelite woman.
And Elizabeth says to Mary, here, blessed, are you among
women? And blessed is the fruit of your
womb. Of course, this is this comes
through into the Hail Mary as well.
(07:57):
When she says blessed is the fruit of your womb, their base
can basically means blessed is your son Jesus and that tells us
probably that Mary is pregnant by this point.
When she says blessed, she meansGod has blessed.
You, you have been blessed by God verse 43.
Why should I be honored with a visit from the mother of my
Lord. Now, what it literally says
(08:19):
there and this is a better translation actually is.
Why is this granted me that the mother of my Lord should come to
me. Now, notice the focus here is on
Mary, not Jesus. The mother of my Lord should
come to me. Now, there's lots of discussion
here about the word, Lord, that's used here, because Lord
can mean to Things in the Old Testament.
(08:40):
Lord, usually means the king theEarthly King.
So Elizabeth here could mean something like why should it be?
Granted me that the mother of myMessianic King is coming to me
and that would certainly fit. However, there is another
meaning of the word, Lord and most Catholics.
In fact, most Christians have taken it to be Lord as in God.
(09:02):
Because in New Testament times the Hebrew word yhw h often
pronounced It's Yahweh when thatcomes over into Greek in the New
Testament, it gets turned into curiosity, which is Lord.
So Lord can also mean God in theNew Testament, and in fact,
that's how Luke uses it throughout his gospel.
All of the references to the word, Lord, so far, in chapter 1
(09:25):
of Luke up to this point have been about God.
So it makes sense to say that Elizabeth is probably thinking
of God, and she is inspired by the Holy Spirit, he remembers so
she probably believes Jesus to be God. if we're understanding
this correctly, This is the key text which informs the Catholic
understanding that Mary is the mother of God that is a Catholic
(09:48):
belief and Mother of God in Greek there.
The word is theotokos. This is the first Marian Dogma
to be defined Catholics have lots of different Marian
teachings. This was the first one to be
defined. Clearly in 431 ad at the Council
of Ephesus, the church taught that Mary is the mother of God.
And it's based largely on this text here when Elizabeth says
(10:11):
The mother of my Lord Has Come to Me.
Now, we're going to see some really interesting links here,
between the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament, and when
that arrived in Jerusalem. So, in the time of David, the
Ark of the Covenant was brought up to Jerusalem and David's
celebrated. There's some interesting links
here between that scene in second, Samuel and the scene we
(10:33):
have here. Let's have a look at a few
fascinating parallels here. There really does seem to be a
clear link here. God has set it up deliberately,
so that the scene we're looking at mirrors, the arrival of the
Mark in Jerusalem. So in second Samuel 6 verse 2,
it says David arose and went to a village of Judah to retrieve
the ark. Well, here Mariah Rises and goes
(10:56):
to a village of Judah. In fact, Luke interestingly uses
the word Judah here, rather thanthe more common term in the time
of Luke was Judea. But here Luke says, Judah.
And he might be doing that deliberately to recall the line
from 2nd Samuel where David goesup to Judah.
So there's the first First link,second link between the scenes.
(11:17):
In second, Samuel, 6 verse 10. It says the Ark of the Lord
entered the house. Well here, Mary enters the house
in the village of Judah. The thirdly second, Samuel 6
verse 15. It says the people of Israel
shout when the ark arrived and here Elizabeth shouts for Joy
when Marie arrives interesting? Isn't it?
(11:38):
In fact, the word shout, which is Anna fineö, that would only
occurs here in the New Testament.
Minutes, never found anywhere else in the New Testament, but
that word is found in the Old Testament and a fineö and it's
always used in reference to liturgical procession of the Ark
interesting, isn't it? It really does seem like
everything is pointing towards this being a New Covenant Arc,
(12:01):
Mary fourth similarity, when theark arrives to to David in
Jerusalem. David says how can the Ark of
the Lord come to me here. What is Elizabeth say?
How is it that the mother of my My Lord has come to me there's
clearly got to be something going on here next parallel.
It says David danced before the ark when it arrives second
(12:22):
Samuel 6 verse 16 and here what is John do John leaps for Joy
when the ark arrives in his house.
Also this is an interesting one.The ark stays in the house for
three months in Jerusalem. But here what is me redo?
She stays in three months in thehouse of Elizabeth.
So, clearly the parallels here, it's pretty overwhelming.
(12:44):
Only evidence that we're supposed to understand that Mary
is being portrayed as the New Covenant, the bearer of the New
Covenant, the new arc. So God's Dwelling Place, which
in the old Covenant was literally the Ark of the
Covenant will. Now God's dwelling place is
literally Mary verse 45 blessed?Is she, who believed that there
(13:05):
will be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.
So Elizabeth here says, Mary is blessed or happy more literally
because me Mary believed in God's promises unlike Zechariah.
Who didn't believe God's promises?
If you remember? So isn't it?
So fascinating when you dive into the text in this way you
see all these new links? Verse 46.
(13:26):
So Mary is now going to proclaimthe prayer that we have come to
know as The Magnificat. It's actually a song.
And why is it called The Magnificat while in Latin?
This prayer, starts with the word Magnificat, which is the
Latin word for magnify. So the name of the prayer has
come over into English as the Magnificat Priya, this is the
(13:46):
first of several Luke and songs or canticles.
And whenever Luke includes, one of these songs that are
character sings, It's always twomore deeply and Into the
significance of the events. Remember that Luke probably had
Mary. Give him the information about
this scene so Luke probably interviewed Mary directly to get
(14:07):
this information. So she would remember the song
that she sang, The Magnificat isbasically about how God has
worked to bring Salvation. In a general sense to his
people, the Jews, and it's basedlargely about Earthly salvation.
So sometimes non-catholics We'llsee this and talk about aha.
(14:27):
Mary talks about how she needs to be saved by God in this
prayer, which is true. She does.
But clearly in context, it's about Earthly salvation.
Not salvation is in going to heaven.
They didn't really have a concept of that yet.
So, keep that in mind. When we look in The Magnificat,
Mary is basically talking about God's saving people out of
Earthly situations. Now, The Magnificat is largely
(14:49):
apparently based on an Old Testament song, the song of
Hannah in 1 Samuel to Want to 10just after Hannah gives birth to
Samuel and also other Old Testament passages come in here
as well. A bit about God's favorite
Israel and especially Old Testament passages about how God
favors the poor and the lowly. So Mary is going to describe
(15:12):
here. The great reversal that God is
bringing about the first, half focuses on Mary's own reasons,
for praising God. And then the second half
broadens to consider what God has done for Israel in general.
So, first, she's going to talk about how God has shown mercy
and favor to her personally and then how God has shown mercy and
(15:32):
favor to Israel. So, in this sense, Mary is being
revealed. Not only is the perfect woman
but also as a general representative of the Israelite
people as a whole. Now there's a lot we could say
about each line of the magnet Magnificat.
It's probably part of one of those parts of scripture that
the best way to enter into it, is to meditate on it personally,
(15:54):
but we'll give it. Go, we'll try and do a brief
exegesis on each of the lines ofThe Magnificat.
So, she starts by saying my soulproclaims.
The greatness of the Lord or more, literally my soul,
magnifies the Lord. So Mary, he says that with her
whole being she praises, the Lord, she exclaims that she's
praising God. This pretty clearly Echoes.
(16:15):
Some 34 verses 3 to 4 which say my soul will glory in the Lord
magnify the Lord with me. Mary would know her scriptures
so their scriptures are probablyon her mind.
Is she saying this verse 47 and my spirit exalts in God, my
savior. So God has been the savior of
Mary and we're about to find outin what sense, God is the savior
(16:38):
of Mary, why does she think thatshe's been saved by God?
Now already The Magnificat sounds pretty similar to the
start of Hannah's song. If you look at the start of
Hannah's song, Hannah says my whole my heart exults in the
Lord. My horn is exalted before God, I
will Joyce in your salvation verse 48, because he has looked
upon his lowly handmade. So Mary considers herself to be
(17:02):
a humble, handmade. And the Greek word here is
actually slave. She considers herself a slave of
the Lord. She probably doesn't consider
herself to be worthy to be the mother of the Messiah, or to
experience the holy spirit in the things she's experiencing in
the moment. They're in Elizabeth's house.
She says, yes, from this day forward, all generations will
call me blessed blessed. Just means happy or favored.
(17:26):
So God, according to Mary, God has shown favor to marry by
making her the mother of the Messiah and Mary knows.
The people will continue to think about these events for
generations to come So whenever we as Catholics or as
Christians, say blessed, Mary ofBlessed Virgin, Mary.
We're actually fulfilling Mary'sare in prophecy about herself.
(17:49):
All generations will call me blessed.
So it Mary herself gives permission for people to call
her blessed. She's certainly favored by God
for her role in Salvation, verse49 for the almighty has done
great things for me, and holy ishis name.
So, holy basically means Sanctified or set apart.
So, God's name is set apart. Very Jewish way of saying that
(18:11):
God himself is Holy and worthy of worship.
So, she has just talked there about how she believes.
God has blessed blessed her by making her, as an unworthy
servant. She considers herself unworthy
to be the mother of the Messiah.So she's now going to talk about
how God does things for his people, in general.
(18:33):
And that's going to recapitulate.
What she's just said about herself.
Basically verse 50, his Mercy reaches from age to age, for
those who fear Him. So Mary declares that God shows
Mercy to anyone who obeys God. Particularly his Covenant
people, the Jews verse 51, he has shown the power of his arm.
Now, it's an interesting phrase power of his arm, but it's an
(18:55):
Old Testament. Way of saying that God has done
powerful great acts in history. He has routed the proud of
heart, a better translation. There might be, he has scattered
the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
That's language similar to the Psalms God, upholds, the lowly,
but scatters the proud often if you read the Psalms It's pretty
(19:16):
hard to miss that. Kind of language.
God blesses his holy ones but heconfounds the plans of the
wicked verse 52. He has pulled down prince's from
their Thrones and exalted the lowly and indeed, Mary probably
considers herself. One of these lowly ones who he
exalts. In this world at the time of
Mary, the world was dominated byHarrods and Caesars.
(19:37):
But here Mary recognizes that it's the child carried by the
lowly handmade from Nazareth. Whose kingdom is going to be the
one that never ends the hungry. He is filled with good things.
The rich he has sent away empty and again these phrases are
similar to Hannah's song. If you look at verses 3 to 8 of
Hannah's song, Mary herself is poor.
(19:58):
She's one of the poor people that she's talking about and she
knows that God cares about the poor and comes to their aid.
Now, that's the opposite of whatSociety thought at the time,
even Jewish belief. Was that if you're poor, you're
cursed by God, but Mary, he recognizes the god comes to the
aid of the poor and often confounds.
The plans of the rich, Verse 54.He has come to the help of
(20:20):
Israel. His servant mindful if his Mercy
or more literally in remembranceof his Mercy, whenever you see
that word remembrance, that usually means something to do
with Covenant, and that's particularly true, when Jesus
talks about do this. In remembrance, of me,
remembrance is a technical term that refers to Covenant
faithfulness. So, Mary here is probably
(20:40):
thinking of God's faithfulness to the covenants.
He has made with Israel. God always remembers his
covenants and comes To the help of his people in the time of
their need. And this, again, Echoes lots of
the Old Testament, if you look at Psalm 98 verse 3, that's
pretty clear that that's in the background here.
Verse 55. According to the promise he made
(21:02):
to our ancestors of his Mercy toAbraham and his descendants
forever. Now this Covenant that she's
mentioning the one with Abraham that's made in Genesis 22:18.
Mary he is sees that. What's happening to her with the
pregnancy of the most of the Messiah is the ultimate
fulfillment of the promise to Abraham and indeed it is and
(21:24):
Paul will develop this later Jesus who descends from Abraham
is going to fulfill God's promise that he made to Abraham,
that he will bless the whole world through Abraham Jesus.
The Messiah descended from Abraham.
The final fulfillment of that promise.
Jesus Will Bless The World. Now that's the end of The
Magnificat. It's worth pointing out.
(21:45):
Just as an interesting Catholic history fact, early in the 1900s
there was some disputed translations of this which said
that the Magnificat is actually said by Elizabeth.
There were some versions of the Bible which we're saying we're
attributing attributing it to Elizabeth and the church
actually spoke out about that and gave a quite definitive
Proclamation. That This, we need to understand
(22:08):
that this has been said by Mary,that's in the text of the most
reliable translations. It's Mary who says this and they
really interesting stuff. The pontifical biblical
commission had a whole very clear teaching that Catholics
must understand that it was merely that said this and not
Elizabeth. And in fact, I think they even
said that people who are claiming that it was Elizabeth,
(22:30):
who said The Magnificat probablywere doing it from an
anti-catholic bias. So there's very few text of
scripture. That the church has a specific
teaching about. But this is one of them and the
teaching of the church is that Mary proclaims The Magnificat.
It's not a visible and that's what most translations say.
Anyway. But you might you might
(22:50):
encounter that claim every now and then now Pope Benedict, the
16th wrote something quite fascinating about The
Magnificat. This is what he said.
The Magnificat is entirely wovenfrom the threads of Holy
Scripture, threads drawn from the word of God here.
We see See how completely at home, Mary is with the word of
God with. He's she moves in and out of it.
(23:12):
She speaks. And she thinks the word of God.
The word of God Becomes Her wordand her word issues from the
word of God here. We see how her thoughts are
attuned to the thoughts of God. How her will is one with the
will of God. Since Mary is completely imbued
with the word of God, she is able to become the mother of the
word incarnate. So that quote is from Deus
(23:35):
Caritas S1 of Pope Benedict, the16th encyclicals and it's quite
an amazing reflection on The Magnificat.
Very insightful about how mirroruses the word of God.
Verse 56, the last verse Mary stayed with Elizabeth about
three months. So we talked about how this
Echoes the Ark of the Covenant, Mary stayed with Elizabeth,
(23:56):
right up until around the time of the birth of John the
Baptist. Because three months later,
John, the Baptist would be born.So it's possible that she's
there with John the Baptist is born, it doesn't say that but
it's possible because the next thing that happens is the birth
of John, the Baptist. Luke might be emphasizing.
The reason the fact that she stayed there for 3 months
because maybe he wants his readers to be reminded that Mary
(24:19):
did not have relations with Joseph in this time.
So there's no chance that Jesus is a natural birth and natural
pregnancy, Luke might be emphasizing.
This truly is a virgin birth because Mary was not around
Joseph. The first 3 months of her
pregnancy. And then she went back home.
So after nine after around the time John the Baptist is born,
(24:43):
Mary returns to Nazareth. So again the five or six day
walk. So, by this time Mary would be
about three months pregnant whenshe gets back to Nazareth.
So the next part verse 57 266 isabout the birth of, John the
Baptist and that's red on December 23rd every year.
If you want to chase that down now, there's heaps and heaps of
(25:05):
catechism references here. There's so much we can draw from
the in. Counter between Elizabeth and
Mary. I'll leave most of the catechism
paragraphs about the interactionbetween Elizabeth and Mary to a
different day. So, if you go to December 21st
in the liturgical year, you'll hear this interaction again but
(25:26):
it hasn't got The Magnificat in it.
So if you want to focus on, if you want to hear these catechism
paragraphs about Elizabeth in particular, I'd encourage you to
look at the podcast from December 21st.
So for now, I just want to Focuson some of the paragraphs which
are about The Magnificat itself.And I'll include as many of
these as I can in the show notesparagraph 2619, that is why the
(25:49):
Canticle of Mary in Latin. The Magnificat is the song both
of the mother of God. And of the church, the song of
the daughter of Zion and the newpeople of God, the song of
Thanksgiving for the fullness ofGrace has poured out in the
economy of Salvation and the song of the poor, whose hope is
met by the Filament of the promises made to wear ancestors
(26:11):
to Abraham and to his posterity forever paragraph 2097.
This is about adoration to adore, God is to acknowledge in
respect and absolute submission,the nothing nothingness of the
creature who would not exist, but for God to adore, God is to
praise and exalt him and to Humble oneself as Mary.
(26:31):
Did In The Magnificat confessingwith gratitude that he has done
great things and holy is his name.
So here, the church sees Mary asthe model of adoration.
Paragraph. 14, 8 is about Mary. It says the Virgin Mary most
perfectly embodies The Obedienceof Faith by faith, Mary
welcomes, the tidings and promise brought by the angel,
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Gabriel believing that with God,nothing will be impossible.
Elizabeth greeted. Her blessed is she who believed
that there will be a fulfillmentof what was spoken to her from
the Lord. It is for this faith, that all
generations of called, Mary blessed.
Peg of 971, all generations willcall me blessed.
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The church is Devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to
Christian worship. The church rightly honors, the
Blessed Virgin with special devotion.
Paragraph 273 makes an interesting application to the
mystery of God's apparent. Powerlessness.
It says, only Faith Can embrace the mysterious ways of God's
Almighty power. This faith, glorifies in its
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weaknesses. In order to draw itself to
Christ power. The Virgin Mary is the Supreme
model of this faith for she believes that nothing will be
impossible for God and was able to magnify the Lord, for he who
is mighty has done great things for me.
And holy is his name. So that's an issue, interesting
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application there about when we sometimes think that God is
powerless to do things. Mary is our model of faith that
nothing is impossible for God paragraph 2599.
I think this is a really interesting teaching actually
about Jesus. It says, the Son of God who
became son of the Virgin learnedto pray.
According to his human heart, helearns the formulas of prayer
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from his mother who kept in her heart and meditated upon all the
great things done by the Almighty.
So here in The Magnificat, we see that Mary knows how to pray
and the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus own prayers, with the
way Jesus. Learn to pray would have largely
been taught to him by Mary. We often forget that Mary would
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have been the primary teacher ofJesus as his growing up.
Last paragraph. 4 to 2 and this is a good way to finish the good
news. God has sent his son.
When the time had fully come, God sent forth his son, born of
a woman born under the law. Redeem those who are under the
law so that we might receive adoptive adoption as Sons.
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This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God, God has
visited his people, he has fulfilled the promise he made to
Abraham and his descendants. He acted far beyond all
expectation. He has sent his own beloved Son,
So, we'll leave it there for today.
I hope you learned something newfrom this quite well-known text,
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and please share it around. If you think others would
benefit from, it will continue to look at the gospels in the
coming days.
Hi everyone, welcome back to logical Bible study.
In this podcast, we're all aboutlooking at the gospel from
today's mass and having a look at the literal sense of the
text. What is the text mean on the
most fundamental level? What do the words mean?
What was the author trying to get at all of those are the kind
of things that we try and help you understand.
In this podcast today, we're looking at a text, which will be
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familiar to many of you Catholics.
So, let's jump into it. Luke chapter 1 verses 39.
Mary set out and went as quicklyas she could to a town in the
Hill Country of Judah, she went into zechariah's house and
greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard
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Mary's greeting, the child left in her womb and Elizabeth was
filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said of
all women, you are the most blessed and blessed is the fruit
of your womb. Why should I be honored with a
visit from the mother of my lordfor the moment, your greeting
reached my ears? The child in my womb, leaped for
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joy. Yes.
Blessed. Is she who believed that?
The promise made her by the Lordwould be fulfilled.
And Mary said, my soul proclaimsthe greatness of the Lord.
And my spirit exalts in God, my savior because he has looked
upon his lowly handmade. Yes.
From this day forward, all generations will call me blessed
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for the almighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name, and his Mercy reaches from age to age, for
those who fear Him He has shown the power of his arm, he has
routed the proud of heart. He has pulled down prince's from
their Thrones, and exalted, the lowly the hungry.
He has filled with good things, the rich sent away empty.
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He has come to the help of Israel.
His servant. Mindful of his Mercy according
to the promise, he made to our ancestors of his Mercy to
Abraham and to his descendants forever.
So Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went
back home. So let's start by thinking about
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the context here, where in Luke chapter one.
About halfway through that big chapter, where Luke tells us
quite a lot of the background ofthe birth of both Jesus, and
John the Baptist. So, what's the context?
Well, just prior to this Mary, has found out that Elizabeth is
pregnant and also, Mary herself has found out that she'll be
pregnant and that, of course, happens in the famous
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Annunciation scene. So if you want to hear an
exegesis of the Annunciation scene verses 26 to 38, it's
Several times in the liturgical year.
So December 20th every year and then the solemnity of the
Annunciation. It's red and then it's red on
the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, as well, so that's
one of the most common readings in the lectionary but now we get
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to verse 39 today. So Mary has found out that
Elizabeth is pregnant so she sets out to go find Elizabeth At
the time of leaving made Mary iseither not yet pregnant or has
just become pregnant. It's not entirely clear.
When Mary has when married herself gets pregnant but
certainly Elizabeth is pregnant.That's why Mary leaves to go
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visit Elizabeth in her pregnancyand the text says she goes as
quickly as she can to a town in the Hill Country.
So the text doesn't tell us where exactly Elizabeth and
Zachariah live. But there is a traditional site
called Ein Karem and that is near Jerusalem.
So that would certainly fit the Description that we have here.
You can actually go there today to the ruins of that Village and
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the place where they think Elizabeth may have lived.
And I've actually been there, it's quite a powerful
experience. So I encourage him is a is near
Jerusalem, and so that's helpfulfor Zechariah.
It's probably about five miles from the temple.
So, Zechariah works at the temple.
So it makes sense that he would live in on Korean, which is just
outside of Jerusalem, but Mary does not live anywhere near
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Jerusalem, Mary lives in Nazareth.
So for her to get to Elizabeth'shouse from Nazareth to Ein,
Karem, we're talking 90 miles. So she it's a five or six day
walk for Mary to go visit Elizabeth this time.
She's Not accompanied by Joseph.As far as we know, Joseph might
have been working at this time. Still, but she probably did
have, she was in a walking Caravan of some kind.
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It was quite common for people to travel from Galilee down to
Judea. So she enters the house of
Elizabeth and Zachariah and as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's
greeting the child left in her womb so the child in Elizabeth's
womb leaps when she hears Mary'svoice.
So, the child in Elizabeth's womb is, of course, John John
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senses, the voice of Mary, and leaps, for joy that fulfills
what Gabriel said to Zechariah earlier.
Remember when Gabriel appears toZechariah.
One of the things he says, is your child, John will be filled
with the spirit even from his mother's womb.
So that was in chapter verse 15 of chapter one.
And there's also other parallelshere all the way through this
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text, you'll see some Old Testament echoes.
Quite clear ones actually. And this particular one where
the child leaps in Elizabeth's womb, this parallels the
experience of Rebecca in Genesis25.
So Rebecca is the mother of Jacob and Esau.
And in Genesis 25, the same Greek word, therefore leap is
used to describe her children stirring in her womb and
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interestingly in Rebecca's case,the child, the children moving
in her womb represented. The fact that Jacob is going to
outrank Esau, even though Jacob was younger And here Elizabeth's
experience when John Moves In the Womb, that is a sign that
Jesus would be greater than his older cousin John.
As we see later in Luke 3, 16. So interesting connections there
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with Rebecca, of course this hasimplications of how we should
think of unborn children as well.
Because here we have children inthe womb responding to outside
stimuli in a really interesting way.
And so there's some implicationshere about how we think about
abortion and the issue. Is around that, it says
Elizabeth was filled with the holy spirit, so notice that
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she's filled with the holy spirit.
It's a supernatural feeling. So Elizabeth is filled with the
Holy Spirit. And she says, in verse 42,
remember, she's basically being inspired by the spirit here.
Blessed. Are you among women?
Now, what it actually says therein the Greek is, it's a
superlative. So Elizabeth says to Mary.
Most Blessed Are You among women?
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Because of the special role. God has given her and Elizabeth
empowered by the spirit. Is that Elizabeth here?
Actually uses the same words that were spoken to the women,
jail and Judith. Some of the Lesser known
characters in the Old Testament,the women jail and Judith are in
Judges chapter 5 and then Judgeschapter 13 fascinating parallel
here because both women jail andJudith.
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They became famous among the Israelites because they killed
the opposing enemy military commanders by giving them a
mortal blow to the Head. Well, Mary is going to Bear a
son, who will crush Satan's Headas well, it specifically says
that in Genesis 3, verse 15. So notice all these interesting
parallels here with women in theOld Testament.
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Clearly Mary here is being presented by God as the
Fulfillment of all of the femalearchetypes in the Old Testament.
Mary is like the perfect Israelite woman.
And Elizabeth says to Mary, here, blessed, are you among
women? And blessed is the fruit of your
womb. Of course, this is this comes
through into the Hail Mary as well.
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When she says blessed is the fruit of your womb, their base
can basically means blessed is your son Jesus and that tells us
probably that Mary is pregnant by this point.
When she says blessed, she meansGod has blessed.
You, you have been blessed by God verse 43.
Why should I be honored with a visit from the mother of my
Lord. Now, what it literally says
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there and this is a better translation actually is.
Why is this granted me that the mother of my Lord should come to
me. Now, notice the focus here is on
Mary, not Jesus. The mother of my Lord should
come to me. Now, there's lots of discussion
here about the word, Lord, that's used here, because Lord
can mean to Things in the Old Testament.
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Lord, usually means the king theEarthly King.
So Elizabeth here could mean something like why should it be?
Granted me that the mother of myMessianic King is coming to me
and that would certainly fit. However, there is another
meaning of the word, Lord and most Catholics.
In fact, most Christians have taken it to be Lord as in God.
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Because in New Testament times the Hebrew word yhw h often
pronounced It's Yahweh when thatcomes over into Greek in the New
Testament, it gets turned into curiosity, which is Lord.
So Lord can also mean God in theNew Testament, and in fact,
that's how Luke uses it throughout his gospel.
All of the references to the word, Lord, so far, in chapter 1
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of Luke up to this point have been about God.
So it makes sense to say that Elizabeth is probably thinking
of God, and she is inspired by the Holy Spirit, he remembers so
she probably believes Jesus to be God. if we're understanding
this correctly, This is the key text which informs the Catholic
understanding that Mary is the mother of God that is a Catholic
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belief and Mother of God in Greek there.
The word is theotokos. This is the first Marian Dogma
to be defined Catholics have lots of different Marian
teachings. This was the first one to be
defined. Clearly in 431 ad at the Council
of Ephesus, the church taught that Mary is the mother of God.
And it's based largely on this text here when Elizabeth says
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The mother of my Lord Has Come to Me.
Now, we're going to see some really interesting links here,
between the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament, and when
that arrived in Jerusalem. So, in the time of David, the
Ark of the Covenant was brought up to Jerusalem and David's
celebrated. There's some interesting links
here between that scene in second, Samuel and the scene we
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have here. Let's have a look at a few
fascinating parallels here. There really does seem to be a
clear link here. God has set it up deliberately,
so that the scene we're looking at mirrors, the arrival of the
Mark in Jerusalem. So in second Samuel 6 verse 2,
it says David arose and went to a village of Judah to retrieve
the ark. Well, here Mariah Rises and goes
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to a village of Judah. In fact, Luke interestingly uses
the word Judah here, rather thanthe more common term in the time
of Luke was Judea. But here Luke says, Judah.
And he might be doing that deliberately to recall the line
from 2nd Samuel where David goesup to Judah.
So there's the first First link,second link between the scenes.
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In second, Samuel, 6 verse 10. It says the Ark of the Lord
entered the house. Well here, Mary enters the house
in the village of Judah. The thirdly second, Samuel 6
verse 15. It says the people of Israel
shout when the ark arrived and here Elizabeth shouts for Joy
when Marie arrives interesting? Isn't it?
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In fact, the word shout, which is Anna fineö, that would only
occurs here in the New Testament.
Minutes, never found anywhere else in the New Testament, but
that word is found in the Old Testament and a fineö and it's
always used in reference to liturgical procession of the Ark
interesting, isn't it? It really does seem like
everything is pointing towards this being a New Covenant Arc,
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Mary fourth similarity, when theark arrives to to David in
Jerusalem. David says how can the Ark of
the Lord come to me here. What is Elizabeth say?
How is it that the mother of my My Lord has come to me there's
clearly got to be something going on here next parallel.
It says David danced before the ark when it arrives second
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Samuel 6 verse 16 and here what is John do John leaps for Joy
when the ark arrives in his house.
Also this is an interesting one.The ark stays in the house for
three months in Jerusalem. But here what is me redo?
She stays in three months in thehouse of Elizabeth.
So, clearly the parallels here, it's pretty overwhelming.
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Only evidence that we're supposed to understand that Mary
is being portrayed as the New Covenant, the bearer of the New
Covenant, the new arc. So God's Dwelling Place, which
in the old Covenant was literally the Ark of the
Covenant will. Now God's dwelling place is
literally Mary verse 45 blessed?Is she, who believed that there
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will be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.
So Elizabeth here says, Mary is blessed or happy more literally
because me Mary believed in God's promises unlike Zechariah.
Who didn't believe God's promises?
If you remember? So isn't it?
So fascinating when you dive into the text in this way you
see all these new links? Verse 46.
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So Mary is now going to proclaimthe prayer that we have come to
know as The Magnificat. It's actually a song.
And why is it called The Magnificat while in Latin?
This prayer, starts with the word Magnificat, which is the
Latin word for magnify. So the name of the prayer has
come over into English as the Magnificat Priya, this is the
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first of several Luke and songs or canticles.
And whenever Luke includes, one of these songs that are
character sings, It's always twomore deeply and Into the
significance of the events. Remember that Luke probably had
Mary. Give him the information about
this scene so Luke probably interviewed Mary directly to get
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this information. So she would remember the song
that she sang, The Magnificat isbasically about how God has
worked to bring Salvation. In a general sense to his
people, the Jews, and it's basedlargely about Earthly salvation.
So sometimes non-catholics We'llsee this and talk about aha.
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Mary talks about how she needs to be saved by God in this
prayer, which is true. She does.
But clearly in context, it's about Earthly salvation.
Not salvation is in going to heaven.
They didn't really have a concept of that yet.
So, keep that in mind. When we look in The Magnificat,
Mary is basically talking about God's saving people out of
Earthly situations. Now, The Magnificat is largely
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apparently based on an Old Testament song, the song of
Hannah in 1 Samuel to Want to 10just after Hannah gives birth to
Samuel and also other Old Testament passages come in here
as well. A bit about God's favorite
Israel and especially Old Testament passages about how God
favors the poor and the lowly. So Mary is going to describe
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here. The great reversal that God is
bringing about the first, half focuses on Mary's own reasons,
for praising God. And then the second half
broadens to consider what God has done for Israel in general.
So, first, she's going to talk about how God has shown mercy
and favor to her personally and then how God has shown mercy and
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favor to Israel. So, in this sense, Mary is being
revealed. Not only is the perfect woman
but also as a general representative of the Israelite
people as a whole. Now there's a lot we could say
about each line of the magnet Magnificat.
It's probably part of one of those parts of scripture that
the best way to enter into it, is to meditate on it personally,
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but we'll give it. Go, we'll try and do a brief
exegesis on each of the lines ofThe Magnificat.
So, she starts by saying my soulproclaims.
The greatness of the Lord or more, literally my soul,
magnifies the Lord. So Mary, he says that with her
whole being she praises, the Lord, she exclaims that she's
praising God. This pretty clearly Echoes.
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Some 34 verses 3 to 4 which say my soul will glory in the Lord
magnify the Lord with me. Mary would know her scriptures
so their scriptures are probablyon her mind.
Is she saying this verse 47 and my spirit exalts in God, my
savior. So God has been the savior of
Mary and we're about to find outin what sense, God is the savior
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of Mary, why does she think thatshe's been saved by God?
Now already The Magnificat sounds pretty similar to the
start of Hannah's song. If you look at the start of
Hannah's song, Hannah says my whole my heart exults in the
Lord. My horn is exalted before God, I
will Joyce in your salvation verse 48, because he has looked
upon his lowly handmade. So Mary considers herself to be
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a humble, handmade. And the Greek word here is
actually slave. She considers herself a slave of
the Lord. She probably doesn't consider
herself to be worthy to be the mother of the Messiah, or to
experience the holy spirit in the things she's experiencing in
the moment. They're in Elizabeth's house.
She says, yes, from this day forward, all generations will
call me blessed blessed. Just means happy or favored.
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So God, according to Mary, God has shown favor to marry by
making her the mother of the Messiah and Mary knows.
The people will continue to think about these events for
generations to come So whenever we as Catholics or as
Christians, say blessed, Mary ofBlessed Virgin, Mary.
We're actually fulfilling Mary'sare in prophecy about herself.
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All generations will call me blessed.
So it Mary herself gives permission for people to call
her blessed. She's certainly favored by God
for her role in Salvation, verse49 for the almighty has done
great things for me, and holy ishis name.
So, holy basically means Sanctified or set apart.
So, God's name is set apart. Very Jewish way of saying that
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God himself is Holy and worthy of worship.
So, she has just talked there about how she believes.
God has blessed blessed her by making her, as an unworthy
servant. She considers herself unworthy
to be the mother of the Messiah.So she's now going to talk about
how God does things for his people, in general.
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And that's going to recapitulate.
What she's just said about herself.
Basically verse 50, his Mercy reaches from age to age, for
those who fear Him. So Mary declares that God shows
Mercy to anyone who obeys God. Particularly his Covenant
people, the Jews verse 51, he has shown the power of his arm.
Now, it's an interesting phrase power of his arm, but it's an
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Old Testament. Way of saying that God has done
powerful great acts in history. He has routed the proud of
heart, a better translation. There might be, he has scattered
the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
That's language similar to the Psalms God, upholds, the lowly,
but scatters the proud often if you read the Psalms It's pretty
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hard to miss that. Kind of language.
God blesses his holy ones but heconfounds the plans of the
wicked verse 52. He has pulled down prince's from
their Thrones and exalted the lowly and indeed, Mary probably
considers herself. One of these lowly ones who he
exalts. In this world at the time of
Mary, the world was dominated byHarrods and Caesars.
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But here Mary recognizes that it's the child carried by the
lowly handmade from Nazareth. Whose kingdom is going to be the
one that never ends the hungry. He is filled with good things.
The rich he has sent away empty and again these phrases are
similar to Hannah's song. If you look at verses 3 to 8 of
Hannah's song, Mary herself is poor.
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She's one of the poor people that she's talking about and she
knows that God cares about the poor and comes to their aid.
Now, that's the opposite of whatSociety thought at the time,
even Jewish belief. Was that if you're poor, you're
cursed by God, but Mary, he recognizes the god comes to the
aid of the poor and often confounds.
The plans of the rich, Verse 54.He has come to the help of
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Israel. His servant mindful if his Mercy
or more literally in remembranceof his Mercy, whenever you see
that word remembrance, that usually means something to do
with Covenant, and that's particularly true, when Jesus
talks about do this. In remembrance, of me,
remembrance is a technical term that refers to Covenant
faithfulness. So, Mary here is probably
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thinking of God's faithfulness to the covenants.
He has made with Israel. God always remembers his
covenants and comes To the help of his people in the time of
their need. And this, again, Echoes lots of
the Old Testament, if you look at Psalm 98 verse 3, that's
pretty clear that that's in the background here.
Verse 55. According to the promise he made
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to our ancestors of his Mercy toAbraham and his descendants
forever. Now this Covenant that she's
mentioning the one with Abraham that's made in Genesis 22:18.
Mary he is sees that. What's happening to her with the
pregnancy of the most of the Messiah is the ultimate
fulfillment of the promise to Abraham and indeed it is and
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Paul will develop this later Jesus who descends from Abraham
is going to fulfill God's promise that he made to Abraham,
that he will bless the whole world through Abraham Jesus.
The Messiah descended from Abraham.
The final fulfillment of that promise.
Jesus Will Bless The World. Now that's the end of The
Magnificat. It's worth pointing out.
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Just as an interesting Catholic history fact, early in the 1900s
there was some disputed translations of this which said
that the Magnificat is actually said by Elizabeth.
There were some versions of the Bible which we're saying we're
attributing attributing it to Elizabeth and the church
actually spoke out about that and gave a quite definitive
Proclamation. That This, we need to understand
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that this has been said by Mary,that's in the text of the most
reliable translations. It's Mary who says this and they
really interesting stuff. The pontifical biblical
commission had a whole very clear teaching that Catholics
must understand that it was merely that said this and not
Elizabeth. And in fact, I think they even
said that people who are claiming that it was Elizabeth,
(22:30):
who said The Magnificat probablywere doing it from an
anti-catholic bias. So there's very few text of
scripture. That the church has a specific
teaching about. But this is one of them and the
teaching of the church is that Mary proclaims The Magnificat.
It's not a visible and that's what most translations say.
Anyway. But you might you might
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encounter that claim every now and then now Pope Benedict, the
16th wrote something quite fascinating about The
Magnificat. This is what he said.
The Magnificat is entirely wovenfrom the threads of Holy
Scripture, threads drawn from the word of God here.
We see See how completely at home, Mary is with the word of
God with. He's she moves in and out of it.
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She speaks. And she thinks the word of God.
The word of God Becomes Her wordand her word issues from the
word of God here. We see how her thoughts are
attuned to the thoughts of God. How her will is one with the
will of God. Since Mary is completely imbued
with the word of God, she is able to become the mother of the
word incarnate. So that quote is from Deus
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Caritas S1 of Pope Benedict, the16th encyclicals and it's quite
an amazing reflection on The Magnificat.
Very insightful about how mirroruses the word of God.
Verse 56, the last verse Mary stayed with Elizabeth about
three months. So we talked about how this
Echoes the Ark of the Covenant, Mary stayed with Elizabeth,
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right up until around the time of the birth of John the
Baptist. Because three months later,
John, the Baptist would be born.So it's possible that she's
there with John the Baptist is born, it doesn't say that but
it's possible because the next thing that happens is the birth
of John, the Baptist. Luke might be emphasizing.
The reason the fact that she stayed there for 3 months
because maybe he wants his readers to be reminded that Mary
(24:19):
did not have relations with Joseph in this time.
So there's no chance that Jesus is a natural birth and natural
pregnancy, Luke might be emphasizing.
This truly is a virgin birth because Mary was not around
Joseph. The first 3 months of her
pregnancy. And then she went back home.
So after nine after around the time John the Baptist is born,
(24:43):
Mary returns to Nazareth. So again the five or six day
walk. So, by this time Mary would be
about three months pregnant whenshe gets back to Nazareth.
So the next part verse 57 266 isabout the birth of, John the
Baptist and that's red on December 23rd every year.
If you want to chase that down now, there's heaps and heaps of
(25:05):
catechism references here. There's so much we can draw from
the in. Counter between Elizabeth and
Mary. I'll leave most of the catechism
paragraphs about the interactionbetween Elizabeth and Mary to a
different day. So, if you go to December 21st
in the liturgical year, you'll hear this interaction again but
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it hasn't got The Magnificat in it.
So if you want to focus on, if you want to hear these catechism
paragraphs about Elizabeth in particular, I'd encourage you to
look at the podcast from December 21st.
So for now, I just want to Focuson some of the paragraphs which
are about The Magnificat itself.And I'll include as many of
these as I can in the show notesparagraph 2619, that is why the
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Canticle of Mary in Latin. The Magnificat is the song both
of the mother of God. And of the church, the song of
the daughter of Zion and the newpeople of God, the song of
Thanksgiving for the fullness ofGrace has poured out in the
economy of Salvation and the song of the poor, whose hope is
met by the Filament of the promises made to wear ancestors
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to Abraham and to his posterity forever paragraph 2097.
This is about adoration to adore, God is to acknowledge in
respect and absolute submission,the nothing nothingness of the
creature who would not exist, but for God to adore, God is to
praise and exalt him and to Humble oneself as Mary.
(26:31):
Did In The Magnificat confessingwith gratitude that he has done
great things and holy is his name.
So here, the church sees Mary asthe model of adoration.
Paragraph. 14, 8 is about Mary. It says the Virgin Mary most
perfectly embodies The Obedienceof Faith by faith, Mary
welcomes, the tidings and promise brought by the angel,
(26:53):
Gabriel believing that with God,nothing will be impossible.
Elizabeth greeted. Her blessed is she who believed
that there will be a fulfillmentof what was spoken to her from
the Lord. It is for this faith, that all
generations of called, Mary blessed.
Peg of 971, all generations willcall me blessed.
(27:14):
The church is Devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to
Christian worship. The church rightly honors, the
Blessed Virgin with special devotion.
Paragraph 273 makes an interesting application to the
mystery of God's apparent. Powerlessness.
It says, only Faith Can embrace the mysterious ways of God's
Almighty power. This faith, glorifies in its
(27:37):
weaknesses. In order to draw itself to
Christ power. The Virgin Mary is the Supreme
model of this faith for she believes that nothing will be
impossible for God and was able to magnify the Lord, for he who
is mighty has done great things for me.
And holy is his name. So that's an issue, interesting
(27:57):
application there about when we sometimes think that God is
powerless to do things. Mary is our model of faith that
nothing is impossible for God paragraph 2599.
I think this is a really interesting teaching actually
about Jesus. It says, the Son of God who
became son of the Virgin learnedto pray.
According to his human heart, helearns the formulas of prayer
(28:18):
from his mother who kept in her heart and meditated upon all the
great things done by the Almighty.
So here in The Magnificat, we see that Mary knows how to pray
and the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus own prayers, with the
way Jesus. Learn to pray would have largely
been taught to him by Mary. We often forget that Mary would
(28:39):
have been the primary teacher ofJesus as his growing up.
Last paragraph. 4 to 2 and this is a good way to finish the good
news. God has sent his son.
When the time had fully come, God sent forth his son, born of
a woman born under the law. Redeem those who are under the
law so that we might receive adoptive adoption as Sons.
(29:01):
This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God, God has
visited his people, he has fulfilled the promise he made to
Abraham and his descendants. He acted far beyond all
expectation. He has sent his own beloved Son,
So, we'll leave it there for today.
I hope you learned something newfrom this quite well-known text,
(29:21):
and please share it around. If you think others would
benefit from, it will continue to look at the gospels in the
coming days.
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