December 22, 2022
Today’s Gospel reminds me of an invitation that St. Ambrose makes in his commentary on the Magnificat. The great doctor of the Church makes it a prayer: “In the heart of each one may Mary praise the Lord, in each may the spirit of Mary rejoice in the Lord. If, according to the flesh, Christ has only one mother, according to faith all souls engender Christ; each one, in fact, receives in himself the Word of God … Mary’s soul magnifies the Lord and her spirit rejoices in God as, consecrated with her soul and spirit to the Father and to the Son, she adores with devout affection only one God, from whom everything proceeds, and only one Lord, in virtue of whom all things exist”.
In this wonderful commentary on the Magnificat of St. Ambrose, I am always moved by that amazing insight: “If, according to the flesh, Christ has only one mother, according to faith all souls engender Christ; each one, in fact, receives in himself the Word of God.” That is why the Church presents this Gospel towards the close of the season of Advent. St Ambrose, interpreting the words of Mary herself, invites us to offer the Lord a dwelling in our souls and in our lives. Not only must we bear him in our hearts, but we must take him to the world so that we too might engender Christ for our times. Let us pray to the Lord to help us to praise him with Mary’s spirit and soul and to take Christ again to our world, as Mary did at that first Christmas.
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