In today’s Gospel, we hear how the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Mother, magnifies our Lord and our God, saying: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. for he has looked upon his lowly servant.” Saint Ambrose once wrote: “Let Mary’s soul be in each of [us] to proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Let her spirit be in each to rejoice in the Lord. Christ has only one mother in the flesh, but we all bring forth Christ in faith. . .”
With her Magnificat, Mother Mary shows us that peace, hope, joy, and love are possible, even in the midst of the busyness and challenges of life, when we keep our focus on Jesus and keep Christ at the center of our family life. In other words, our soul magnifies the greatness of the Lord when we strive for holiness in our life, to live life in a way that we can one day become saints, because what is a saint but a sinner who continually strives for holiness? Again, Saint Ambrose wrote: “The Lord is magnified, not because the human voice can add anything to God but because he is magnified within us. Christ is the image of God, and if the soul does what is right and holy, it magnifies that image of God, in whose likeness it was created and, in magnifying the image of God, the soul has a share in its greatness and is exalted.”
Through Baptism, we are cleansed of Original Sin and called to a life of holiness. Just listen to these prayers for the Order of Baptism. When we receive the white garment: “you have become a new creation and have clothed yourselves in Christ. May this white garment be a sign to you of your Christian dignity. With your family and friends to help you by word and example, bring it unstained into eternal life.” And when we receive the lighted candle: “this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly, so that your child, enlightened by Christ, may walk always as a child of the light and, persevering in the faith, may run to meet the Lord when he comes with all the Saints in the heavenly court.”
My sisters and brothers in Christ, my hope and prayer for all of us is that as we prepare for family gatherings and as exchange presents with our loved ones and friends, on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, that we always remember that our heavenly Father, because He loves us, gave us the greatest gift we could ever receive. From the Gospel of Matthew: “‘She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” And receiving this great gift in faith, may our soul proclaim the greatest of the Lord and may our spirit rejoice in God our Savior by living a life of holiness.
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