Be Fed By The Lord
My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts,
he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree;
he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever.
Luke 1:46-55
The is Mary's Magnificat. It talks of God's faithfulness. If we look at the whole prayer, we see that the theme of this song is mostly of what God has done for Mary.
Mary humbled herself and recognized herself as God's handmaid. And because of this humility before the Lord, God did mighty things for her. All generations from the beginning of time to the end of time - call Mary blessed. Truly, our Mother is blessed because God did mighty things for her. Why did God do mighty things for Mary - for the simple reason that he is holy.
Because of his holiness, God always extends his mercy on those who honour him. This is true yesterday, today and forever.
The next verse shows us how God works on those who honour him. For those who rely on God - God reveals his strength. For those who rely on their own strength, God will frustrate them. For those who trust and boast in their positions of authority, God will bring them down. But for those who humble themselves before God - he himself will raise them up.
The next verse is interesting because in the original Greek, the word translated as filled means to satisfy to the point of gluttony. For those who hunger for God - those who seek God and his righteousness - those who will not be satisfied except in God alone - God will not only satisfy them - but he will fill them until they have more than enough. This is how God feeds us. God wants to give us all of himself - and he showed this to us by giving us his Son - the Bread of Life - to feed us - in the eucharist and in scripture.
For those who think they are rich - who think that they do not need anything from God - of course, they will not get anything.
All these goodness that God did - is because of his holiness and not because of what we have done. God does these things because he is faithful to his promise. He nourishes us to our heart's content.
Before communion, the priest often prays, "As I eat your body and drink your blood, let it not bring me condemnation but health in mind and body." This prayer tells us that the eucharist is not only food for the soul but it gives us health in our body too.
To be nourished by the Lord, we have to feed on him. Jesus said, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood - you will have no life in you. ... For my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed" (John 6:53-55). By faith, we know that small wafer we receive in communion - is not bread but it is the REAL body of Jesus. As St. Paul said in his letter to the Colossians 2:9, "in him, the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily." Jesus is both human and divine flesh - in a sense when we eat Jesus, we eat the true Bread from heaven.
Whenever we receive it, Jesus feeds us with himself - and it nourishes our body and mind.
For us who seek the Lord - we remember God's faithfulness - that he will fill us immensely. Let us remember that we should let God feed us with the body and blood of Jesus in the eucharist and in his word.
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