Mary’s understanding of God – Luke 1:47-55

What this episode covers

This December, we are taking a break from the regular lectionary reading to recoup, regroup and redesign the website. We are working hard at making sure that for 2020, Queer Theology will be even more useful. So for this week, here’s a vintage podcast—one of our best Advent podcasts. This week’s passage is part of Mary’s Magnificat — a badass hymn that shows how she understands God. Already, before Jesus is even born, we see the seeds of what will become his ministry planted and nurtured by his mother Mary. Episode TranscriptBrian: Welcome to the Queer Theology podcast! Fr. Shay: Where each episode, we take a queer look at the week’s lectionary readings. We’re the co-founders of QueerTheology.com and the hosts for this podcast. I’m Father Shay Kearns B: And I’m Brian G. Murphy. B: Hello there! It’s Brian G. Murphy, I’m one of the co-founders of QueerTheology.com and one of the hosts of this podcast. As you may know, the Queer Theology podcast has been around for a long time and so this year for Advent, we’re digging into the archives and republishing some of our favorite and most popular Advent and Christmas-themed episodes. So we’ve got that coming for you shortly. We also, as you may have heard, recently launched a Patreon campaign to make this work more sustainable. So thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has donated. It has made a huge difference in our lives and warmed my heart. I’m super thankful and grateful for that. We still have a bit of a ways to go to reach our goal, so if you’re interested in keeping the podcast, and the website, and the articles, and the emails, and all that good stuff alive we would treasure your support. You can go to patreon.com/queertheology to make a pledge. But we are not wasting any time even though we’re not quite at our goal. We’re getting started on the work of re-working this work, [laughs] lots of work words there. So we’re taking December to do some behind the scenes work. We’re regrouping here on the podcast and we’re redesigning the website, so even though these are old episodes we are still hard at work, and we’re looking forward to sharing all that with you soon. But for now, sit back, relax, and enjoy this Advent-themed episode. Merry almost Christmas from the Queer Theology podcast! This week we’re taking a look at a lectionary text for Sunday, December 24th. We’re going to be looking at Luke 1:47-55. I will read it to you now from the Common English Bible. In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior. He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant. Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored because the mighty one has done great things for me. Holy is his name. He shows mercy to everyone, from one generation to the next, who honors him as God. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations. He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty-handed. He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, remembering his mercy, just as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever. [CEB] A-men. FS: Amen indeed. B: [laughs] Shay. Okay. How do we – what’s queer about this passage? FS: Oh – all of it. [both laugh] I love that this is the passage that is for Christmas Eve. This is Mary’s song – this is part of the Magnificat. We have this hymn, basically, sung by a young woman, who is a person of color, a refugee, pregnant and unmarried, and basically she sings this badass song saying, “God is going to send the rich away empty-handed, pull the arrogant down from their thrones, and lift up the lowly and fill the hungry. If that isn’t radical, I don’t know what is. And yet— B: Amen. FS: —how rarely did I hear anything like this preached in my churches growing up. I