The good news of Mary!

Luke 1:46-56

Mary said: 

‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord

and my spirit exults in God my saviour;

because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.

Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,

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 princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.

The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.

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 for ever.’

Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.

Food for thought!

Mary’s gospel. Gospel means good news. In this text Mary tells the world her goodnews, which is: “his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.” This is Mary’s goodnews. You know, everyone of us was born with a message to bring to the this world; we have a message that we can tell the world before we die. It is our good news. We have to tell the world some good news.

Mary’s good news was to tell the us all that God’s mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him. It means that God’s mercy is not limited to race, sex, religion, time or space. God’s mercy extends to all and everybody WHO FEAR GOD. The only condition is to fear God; the rest is secondary. This is what Paul tells the Galatians that, “There is [now no distinction] neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28). 

In Christ and because of Christ, we are all equal before God. That is no man or woman, learned or illiterate; there are all loved by God. Before the world, we seem to be different; but before God we are not. God deals with all of us and each one of us as equally beloved. This is why, as Jesus told us, God leaves the 99 sheep to go after one that is lost. Why? Because for God all the sheep are equal; loosing one is loosing one too much. That is in the parable of the lost sheep, the Master leaves the 99 and goes after the one that is lost.

Mary’s good news says still that God’s mercy is never outdated; never out of fashion; it is up-to-date, on all and each one that fears God. And nothing can or should take us from the love of God, because according to Rom. 8:39 “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”