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| (A picture of Mother Mary and Jesus from African tradition as found in the Church of Annunciation at Nazareth) |
Mary’s song, the Magnificat,
(Luke 1: 46-55) is a description of Mary's aspirations for her son Jesus and reveals her role as a mother. When most mothers sing lullaby to
their children, Mary has a very revolutionary song that she had to sing when
she was pregnant with Jesus. There should have been several songs available for Mary in
Nazareth those days, for she could have either chosen a hymn from Psalmody or from
their regular hymnal, but she chose to compose a contemporary song of justice, her own
yearning for her society, and sang it for her son Jesus. Her situation and
context of oppression and discrimination, demanded mother Mary to sing this
radical song of justice. This song reveals her mothering quality, her dream for
her son, and raised Jesus with those values and ethos and Jesus eventually lived
up for all those that her mother aspired and raised him with. This song could
have been the song that Jesus heard her sing daily, and learnt it as an anthem
of justice for his mission in his life.
Mothering
Sunday is an opportunity for parents to compose and sing songs for their
children, penning their dreams and aspirations for their children. This Sunday then
calls us as parents to commit ourselves to raise our children in fulfilling our
aspirations for a just society. May we like mother Mary get inspired to sing songs of justice for our children. I specially remember mothers like Radhika
Vemula mother of Dalit martyr Rohit Vemula, Meena Devi mother of Kanhaiya
Kumar, President JNUSU and several other mothers whose names have been
undocumented, forgotten and erased by the dominant patriarchal society, for
they as mothers sang songs of justice and liberation for their children, and
their children lived out their dreams for a just world. Thanking God for the
gift of motherhood, and remembering all our mothers for their love, care,
sacrifice and dreams for their children. Mother Mary had a song for her son,
what song do you have for your sons and daughters? Here is her song... what is your song?
Luke 1:46-55
46 And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Raj Bharath Patta,
camp: Bogota, Colombia
4th March 2016
6 comments:
Amen. I have a song for My children and grandchildren as well. It is a song that my mother passed down to me and my siblings. It is called "This Same Spirit Makes Me Rise". It speaks of the resilience and the undying faith that we have through our victory in Jesus Christ. It has given me strength in my dark days. It is a song that helps me endure. And it is a song that has now become the anthem for my family. Praise God for this message.
Glad to know u have a song for ur children that speaks of resilience and strength in Jesus Christ. I am sure the children are raised in fulfilling those aspirations of ur song. Blessings to u
to me, as a mother, songs are a powerful medium of bringing up our children in the ways of God. songs of love, guidance, boldness and power
U have said it right Anshely, songs do have lots of meaning
What a brilliant blog post anna! Having lost my own beautiful, strong, independent and kind mummy 3 years ago, I can truly say how much I miss a mother's touch, her humming songs while doing chores..a mother's smoothing assurance....a mother's calming presence....a mother's strength in dark times! OH and yes, my mom used to sing a lot and even taught me a lot of Christian songs (oops, did I mention, a lot of old classic bollywood songs as well !)but the ones that she commonly sang was "what a friend we have in Jesus" and "Guide me OH though great Jehovah "! I still can hear her singing in mild whispers when I need some assurance! Truly, we are blessed...I am blessed to have mother's who sang to us songs of God's love and Hope. And you have just made me ask myself, a question "what song do I have for my son"! Thank you and God bless...Jessica...x
Thank you Jessica for ur comment.
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