What the Feast of the Assumption teaches us about rich and poor
On this Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the gospel reading from the Mass during the day is from Luke: Mary visiting Elizabeth. Mary’s beautiful prayer, known as the Magnificat (from the Latin verb “to magnify” from the first line of the prayer) is a rich commentary on God’s faithfulness. Luke drew it, in part, from the beautiful prayer of Hannah in the first book of Samuel.
Both the prayer of Hannah, which dates from the sixth century BC (during the time of the reconstruction of Israel after its Babylonian exile), and the prayer of Mary (first century AD) emphasize God’s lifting up the lowly:
Both prayers arise from the women’s passionate longing for God’s justice. In the case of Hannah, it was an earnest prayer for a son, that she might not be scorned and left on the margins of Israelite society. In Mary’s case, it was a prayer of gratitude that the Lord had chosen her to be the mother of the Redeemer. Both, though, describe a God who seeks out the lowly, and who casts judgment on the powerful.
Later in Luke’s gospel is the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, which further emphasizes Luke’s warning to the rich and powerful of the world. The rich man ignored Lazarus, or simply chose never to see him. He and Lazarus died; Lazarus went to “the bosom of Abraham” while the rich man went to torment.
Jesus tells this parable after his Sermon on the Plain, in which he contrasts the destiny of the rich and poor. Unlike Matthew’s version, which has only a series of “blessed are the…” statements, Luke’s version has both blessings and woes. Blessed, says Luke, are the poor; the hungry; the weeping; and those who are hated for Jesus’ sake. In contrast:
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation. (Luke 6:24)
Both Hannah and Mary have prayed to a God who lifts up the lowly, and casts down the rich and powerful.
Who, then, are the lowly today? Who are the people whom the rich and powerful ignore or persecute?
