The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to contemplate the relationship between God and the anawim and our response to the need to trust God for our well being.
Our solidarity with the anawim
In the reading from the First Book of Samuel, Hannah Presents Samuel to the Lord.
* [1:24] Ephah: see note on Is 5:10.1
The response from the First Book of Samuel is Hannah’s Prayer.
* [2:1–10] Hannah appeals to a God who maintains order by keeping human affairs in balance, reversing the fortunes of the arrogant, who, like Peninnah, boast of their good fortune (vv. 1, 3, 9) at the expense of those like Hannah who receive less from the Lord. Hannah’s admission places her among the faithful who trust that God will execute justice on their behalf. The reference “his king…his anointed” (v. 10) recalls the final sentence of the Book of Judges and introduces the kingship theme that dominates the Books of Samuel.2
In the Gospel of Luke, we hear Mary’s Song of Praise.
* [1:46–55] Although Mary is praised for being the mother of the Lord and because of her belief, she reacts as the servant in a psalm of praise, the Magnificat. Because there is no specific connection of the canticle to the context of Mary’s pregnancy and her visit to Elizabeth, the Magnificat (with the possible exception of v. 48) may have been a Jewish Christian hymn that Luke found appropriate at this point in his story. Even if not composed by Luke, it fits in well with themes found elsewhere in Luke: joy and exultation in the Lord; the lowly being singled out for God’s favor; the reversal of human fortunes; the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. The loose connection between the hymn and the context is further seen in the fact that a few Old Latin manuscripts identify the speaker of the hymn as Elizabeth, even though the overwhelming textual evidence makes Mary the speaker.3
George Butterfield comments that some scholars believe that Luke got the words attributed to Mary from the words of Hannah. Butterfield tends to think that Hannah and Mary were cut from the same cloth. Mary had probably heard the words of Hannah and embraced many of them as her own.
The words of Mary’s Magnificat are some of the most widely read words in all of sacred scripture. The Canticle of Mary, as it is called in the Liturgy of the Hours, is read during every Evening Prayer (Vespers) throughout the world. John 3:16 appears at a sporting event on occasion but the Magnificat is read everywhere, every day. The words are so like Luke, so like the God whom Luke proclaims in his Gospel. God scatters the proud, casts down the mighty, and sends the rich away hungry. He looks upon his lowly servant, lifts up the lowly, and fills the hungry with good things.4
Don Schwager quotes “Mary preaches the new kingdom,” by Ephrem the Syrian (306-373 AD).
"[Mary] revealed to Elizabeth what the angel spoke to her in secret, and that he called her blessed because she believed in the realization of the prophecy and the teaching that she heard (Luke 146-55). Then Mary gently brought forth the fruit of what she heard from the angel and Elizabeth: 'My soul bless the Lord.' Elizabeth had said, 'Blessed is she who has believed,' and Mary replied, 'From henceforth all generations will call me blessed.' It was then that Mary began to preach the new kingdom. 'She returned home after three months,' so that the Lord whom she was carrying would not begin service before his servant. She returned to her husband to clarify the matter, for if she had become pregnant through human fruit, it would have been appropriate for her to flee from her husband." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 1.28)5
The Word Among Us Meditation from 1 Samuel 1:24-28 comments that it seems strange that Hannah entrusted her son to the same person who had accused her three years prior of being drunk as she poured out her heart in prayer? Shouldn’t she rather have rebuked Eli for his false accusation? But rather than getting sidetracked by the past, Hannah focused instead on fulfilling her promise to God. And God was faithful to her. Hannah went on to have five more children, while Samuel grew up strong in the Spirit of God.
Christmas is less than three days away, and you may be distracted by any number of less-than-perfect circumstances. Take a moment to acknowledge them as you pray, but try to keep your focus on the Lord. He is coming as a newborn child who will one day offer his life for you just so you can live with him forever. Focus on the One who is present in the manger and in your heart. Then, as you work through whatever distractions or unpleasant situations you are facing, imitate Hannah. Try to keep your eyes on the Lord and his goodness to you. Trust that as you do, that goodness will shine through you. “Jesus, Son of God, no matter what is happening in my life this week, help me to stay focused on you.”6
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the faithfulness of Hannah to dedicate her son to the Lord with Eli who had previously misjudged her. The Magnificat is likely a pre-existing Christian hymn placed in Mary’s mouth, that is part of the Daily Liturgy of the Hours to this time. Friar Jude connects the stay of three months of Mary in Ein Karem, as the New Ark of the Covenant, to the stay of the Ark of the Covenant in Abu Gosh, across the valley, during King David’s reign.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Kathleen Norris who acknowledges the exhaustion many of us feel after “we scurry for weeks, baking, shopping, working extra hours, rehearsing and presenting Christmas pageants.” She believes, however, that it is in admitting our weariness that we find hope.
It is precisely because we are weary, and poor in spirit, that God can touch us with hope. This is not an easy truth. It means that we do accept our common lot, and take up our share of the cross. It means that we do not gloss over the evils we confront every day, both within ourselves and without. Our sacrifices may be great. But as the martyred archbishop of El Salvador, Oscar Romero, once said, it is only the poor and hungry, those who know they need someone to come on their behalf, who can celebrate Christmas. [At Christmas] we are asked to acknowledge that the world we have made is in darkness. We are asked to be attentive, and keep vigil for the light of Christ. . . . We, and our world, are broken. Even our homes have become places of physical and psychological violence. It is only God, through Jesus Christ, who can make us whole again.7
Christmas time is an opportunity to examine our poverty of spirit as we are prompted by the Spirit to give and receive in solidarity with the anawim of today.
References
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