‘What is now does not have to be’
Scripture
Job 5:11-16: So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
Luke 1:46-55: He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly.
Meditation
Job was living the good life and unexpectedly suffered the loss of his family and everything he had. We all have suffering that is manifested in our minds, bodies, and spirits. We may pull away from God and others. We may lose hope. Yet, as Christians, we are unified in our belief that God is with us in the midst of our suffering.
According to Fr. Bryan Massingale, a leading Catholic social ethicist and scholar in racial justice, “Social life is made by human beings. The society we live in is the result of human choices and decisions. This means that human beings can change things. What human beings break, divide and separate, we can with God’s help, also heal, unite and restore. What is now does not have to be, therein lies the hope and the challenge.”
The Magnificat is Mary’s song of joy for all that she sees God is doing: restoring balance by raising up the lowly; righting injustice by feeding the hungry; and remembering Israel, His servant. It is easy to overlook or undervalue the faith of those who belong to other Christian communities, particularly if those communities are small. But the Lord makes His people whole by raising up the lowly so that the value of each is recognized.
Prayer
God of Hope, help us to remember that you are with us in our suffering. Grant us the gift of being grounded in your loving Spirit as we work together to eradicate all forms of oppression and injustice. Give us the courage to love what, whom and how you love, and to express this love in our actions. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.