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Tuesday 4th
Week of Advent
The Institute
December 22, 2015
THE WORD MAGNIFICAT ++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Magnificat
is the name we give the prayer of praise that Mary offers in today’s Gospel
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We know that the word Magnificat is the first word in the Latin version of this prayer
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It means magnify,
so Mary is saying that her “soul magnifies
the greatness of the Lord”
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The word magnify
means to make something larger
Mary’s as magnified
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Obviously, Mary does not make God larger, but
she recognizes that God is larger than herself
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She humbly looks to God as the almighty One
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She listens and accepts God’s message as the
direction her life is to take
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She sees herself as a servant of God on this
earth.
Mary as Magnifier
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Mary also magnifies
the Lord by making other people larger
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She is sensitive to the last and the least among
us
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In her prayer, she discerns that God is turning
things upside down…
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For she prayers “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the
lowly…”
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He has
filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty”
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Mary magnifies or makes larger the little ones
of this world and recognizes in God’s treatment of herself that this is how God
treats all peoples
MARY FORESHADOWS JESUS AS MAGNIFIER +++++++
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She implicitly foresees how her son will treat
the little, the last, the least, and the lost
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She implicitly foresees the parable on the Last
Judgment about separation of sheep & goats
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And that R treatment of these persons, whether
or not we magnify them, will determine
whether we are sheep or goats
GOOD NEWS FOR US +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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So, whether we’re among the little folks in this
world, or in the circle of the last chosen for an honor, the least
likely to succeed, or the among the wandering lost…
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The words of the Magnificat hold out a great
hope for us
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