Homily for Wednesday of the 4th Week of Advent

Theme: MARY ‘S MAGNIFICAT!

By: Ben Agbo (Rev Fr)

Homily for Wednesday December 22 2021

*1Sam 1 : 24 – 28, Lk 1 : 46 – 56.

Thanksgiving is the sublime mark of spirituality. It is a humble appreciation of the goodness and greatness of God. When we are so full of ourselves, we cannot praise God. In Hannah and Mary’s magnificat we see humility personified in praise and thanksgiving for God’s miraculous intervention and elevation in their lives. Mary’s magnificat contains the highest emotive quality of praise: ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour’. Hannah’s magnificat showcases a different anthropology but the same pattern: ‘My heart exalts in the Lord, my strength is exalted in my God’, 1Sam 2 : 1-8. Both present a clear articulation of thanksgiving to God for elevation in their existential status.

Mary teaches us in prayer to acknowledge the 3 greatest attributes of God: His MIGHT, His HOLINESS and His MERCY. God’s might, according to Mary could scatter the proud and the rich and exalt the lowly, feed the hungry and send the rich away empty. She prophesied exactly what her son Jesus would do. God’s holiness is manifested through his mighty deeds of redemption. Mary was the first Christian to recognize the holiness of the Messiah. Later the apostles would continue harping on that motif, Act 3: 14. The Angel revealed to her that the child that she would conceive would be called holy, Lk 1 : 35. Mary also acknowledges in her magnificat the new covenant in Jesus as a manifestation of God’s endless mercy from generation to generation given to all those who fear him.

Today we do a lot of weird things in the name of Praise worship. What we see in many so called adoration centres in the name of Praise worship is more of jirations. Praise is gradually turning into self gratification and entertainment instead of the estolling of the Majesty of God. We have a lot to learn from Mary – young in age but theologically advanced. May her MAGNIFICAT become for us a sample prayer for praise worship.

May God bless you today!