Friends, we are provided a reminder today of how we might look at ourselves.
If I said to you that the sitting President of our great country views themself as a servant of the people you'd be prone to scoff at that statement for there seems to be substantial rhetoric surrounding most elected officials. Speech writing is a full-time job.
On the other end of the spectrum, consider a janitor for a building whose job is to mop floors, clean bathrooms, etc. Possibly you have met someone in this role who goes about their business with both humility and joy. I think of the maintenance men at my grade school, high school, and even in college. They impressed me as reliable and aware that their task was not significant but their daily task was more ministry than duties.
Have you ever considered how you look at yourself? I don't mean how others look at you but, instead, how do you view what you do with or in your life as mother, father, brother, sister, cousin, and friend? If you are an accountant, a car salesman, a judge, a doctor, a veterinarian, a seamstress, a grocery store clerk, or a cashier, how do YOU view what you do?
This came to mind this morning while I read about the great visit; when the Mother of our Blessed Lord visited her cousin Elizabeth (Lk 1:39-56) upon hearing that Elizabeth was pregnant. The journey began, we are told, "in haste". Mary could not get there soon enough.
We read the exchange between the cousins, how Elizabeth couldn't help but notice that the child in her womb was leaping when the Child in Mary's womb was near. Elizabeth asks; "How does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" Can we ask ourselves the same question? How does this happen to us, the "this" is all of this, all that we have been graced with and our Lord being with us.
And we turn to the Mother of our Lord and her response to her cousin. It would have been reasonable for Mary to say nothing, to more or less accept what she heard from Elizabeth, to agree with her. However, her response is noted by Luke as follows; "And Mary said..."
What did Mary say? Well, she could have said a lot at this point for without a word from her mouth it was recognized that she carried in her womb our Salvation. The recorded words are; "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord' my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant."
A lowly servant? How do we explain this response? This is the Mother of God and she views herself as a servant? If Mary was a servant where does that put us? Would we consider ourselves a servant or lowly?
A few key words in today's Gospel include leap or leaped (the child in Elizabeth's womb leaped), soul (Mary's soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord), and rejoice (Mary describes her spirit). All these feelings are due to a Child.
We may not literally leap for joy but this kind of joy should be the essence of our spirit for the same reason that the child in Elizabeth leaped, that our Savior has come and He is with us. We should rejoice to those whom we meet. Our spirit should convey the reason for our hope.
We will all visit with someone today. May our spirit convey our joy and may we approach our tasks as Mary did, as lowly servants for we do serve a magnificent God.
The following lyrics are taken from the song; Magnificent God by Big Daddy Weave.
When darkness clouds the day
When we are afraid
You are there
When trouble closes in
It's hard to trust again
You are there
And we fix our eyes on You
Our hope is found in You
You are Glorious, Almighty
Infinite and Holy
Gracious, Full of Mercyinto
Love without an end
Magnificent God, Magnificent God
Our hearts are full of wonder
Captured by Your beauty
Falling on our knees we worship You alone
Magnificent God, We bow before all You are
