He Has Scattered The Proud In Their Conceit, and Has Lifted Up The Lowly.

December 22, 2009
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent

Reading 1 1 Samuel 1:24-28
In those days,
Hannah brought Samuel with her,
along with a three-year-old bull,
an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine,
and presented him at the temple of the LORD in Shiloh.
After the boy’s father had sacrificed the young bull,
Hannah, his mother, approached Eli and said:
“Pardon, my lord!
As you live, my lord,
I am the woman who stood near you here,
praying to the LORD.
I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request.
Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD;
as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.”
She left Samuel there.

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Responsorial Psalm -- 1 Samuel 2
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“My heart exults in the LORD,
my horn is exalted in my God.
I have swallowed up my enemies;
I rejoice in my victory.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.“
The bows of the mighty are broken,
while the tottering gird on strength.
The well-fed hire themselves out for bread,
while the hungry batten on spoil.
The barren wife bears seven sons,
while the mother of many languishes.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.“
The LORD puts to death and gives life;
he casts down to the nether world;
he raises up again.
The LORD makes poor and makes rich,
he humbles, he also exalts.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.“
He raises the needy from the dust;
from the dung heap he lifts up the poor,
To seat them with nobles
and make a glorious throne their heritage.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

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Gospel Luke 1:46-56
Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior,
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.”
Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months,
and then returned to her home.

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Today's First Reading comes from the First Book of Samuel. In our Bible, there are two books, but in the original Hebrew, there was only one. The principal characters are Samuel, the temple priest and prophet, Saul, the first King of Israel and his successor David.

It all starts with an ordinary couple living in a hill town. They have no children, they were getting old, and the wife was losing hope that she would ever bear a child. But she was not resigned to what she considered a fruitless life. She prayed to the LORD, who not only listens to the pleas of the afflicted, but his answer always exceeds what they ask for. Not only does he give Hannah a son, he gives his people a prophet.

Hannah has been gifted with a son, but from the outset she knows that he does not totally belong to her. Even before his birth, she dedicates him to become a minister in the the sanctuary where the Ark was kept before the first Temple was built. And today, now that he is old enough to be taught his mission, she presents him to the priest Eli, with the closing words of today's Reading: "I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request. Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD."

Following immediately on this reading is the Responsorial Psalm. It is not one of the Davidic psalms, but represents the hymn of praise and thanksgiving Hannah makes for the birth of her son. It is an ancient poem, which may originally have had nothing to do with the birth of Samuel, but it fits perfectly into the context, and bears many similarities to the Magnificat, the hymn of Mary on the occasion of her Visitation to Elizabeth, which is today's gospel.

The Magnificat is not exactly what one might expect to hear from the lips of a simple peasant girl from Nazareth -- even if she is from a priestly family. It is Mary's response to the greeting of her cousin Elizabeth, who protested that "the mother of the Lord" should come to visit her, when it ought to have been the other way round. It is a joyful song, as Mary recognizes that God has blessed a simple girl living in a country town -- in the eyes of the world a person of no consequence. But in God's eyes, everyone is of equal consequence, and he tends to choose the meek and humble -- like Hannah and Mary -- to confound the wise and the powerful. "From this day all generations will call me blessed; the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name."

The blessing God granted to Hannah and to Mary are unique, since their respective roles in the history of salvation are unique. But there are, in every generation, women and men who receive from the Lord great graces to accomplish great deeds -- and all of them share one characteristic:

He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has sacttered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.

We, too, can rejoice with Mary in the long list of good things we have been gifted with by our loving Lord. These gifts are not merely for our enjoyment. Our task is, in accordance to these gifts, to make sure that the love of God is experienced by the poor, the weak, the outcast, and the sinful in our midst. The fulfillment of what Mary sings about can only take place when all of us work together with the Lord to bring it about. Together with Mary, let us say a resounding "Yes!" to God's plan for his children.