At the end of May, we celebrated the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary where we read Luke’s account of Mary’s visitation to her cousin Elizabeth to help her at the end of her pregnancy with John the Baptist. As part of that scripture reading, we encounter what is known as The Magnificat or The Prayer Of Mary. In reading this scripture I was struck by the male-dominated language of the New American Bible translation for that reading which quite frankly made it hard for me to continue reading.
And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.”
There are 17 male language references to God in that short passage of scripture! Reading this made me start to think, what would be a better translation for inclusive language? Since God encompasses male and female we could simply replace the masculine pronouns he and his with the feminine pronouns she and her.
And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for she has looked with favor on her lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is her Name.
She has mercy on those who fear her in every generation.
She has shown the strength of her arm, she has scattered the proud in their conceit.
She has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.
She has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich she has sent away empty.
She has come to the help of her servant Israel for she has remembered her promise of mercy, the promise she made to our mothers, to Abraham and her children for ever.”
I am guessing that causes some eyebrows to raise and maybe a bit of discomfort based on the usual masculine pronouns we are used to reading and hearing. While this may swing the pendulum away from the male domination of scripture translations but does not move toward an inclusive view of God that transcends gender.
At our evening prayer for Fr. Michael Byron, which was on the evening of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we sang the Magnificat and I was struck by how beautifully inclusive the wording was.
My soul gives glory to the Lord, rejoicing in my saving God, who looks upon me in my state, and all the world will call me blest;
For God works marvels in my sight, and holy, holy is God's name.
God's mercy is from age to age, on those who follow in fear;
Whose arm is power and strength, and scatters all the proud of heart;
Who casts the mighty from their thrones and raises up the lowly ones!
God fills the starving with good things, the rich are left with empty hands;
Protecting all the faithful ones, remembering Israel with mercy,
the promise known to those before and to their children for ever!
Looking on the Internet, I found this nice suggested inclusive translation for the Magnificat.
My soul proclaims your greatness, O God! My heart rejoices in you, my Savior,
because you have showered your servant with blessing! From now to the end of time,
all generations will know the great things you have done for me.
Mighty One! Your name is holy! In every age, your compassion flows to those who reverence you! But all who seek to exalt themselves in arrogance will be leveled by your power.
You have deposed the mighty from their seats of power, and have raised the lowly to high places. Those who suffer hunger, you have filled with good things. Those who are privileged, you have turned away empty-handed.
You have come to the aid of your people, in fulfillment of the promise you made to our ancestors when you spoke blessing to Sarah and Hagar and all their descendants, to the utmost generation!
Why does this matter to me, and why does reading heavily male dominated language for God upset me? I feel that the use of masculine pronouns for God has been used as a way to keep a male-dominated Church Hierarchy in power and I have seen how so many women feel like second-class citizens in their Church. On a personal level, I see how male dominated language is an obstacle for our daughters and granddaughters in embracing a life of faith in the Church. This discomfort is good, and I believe that it is God speaking to me to somehow try and break the cycle in my own writing and preaching. It is also a nudge to me to pray and speak out for our Catholic Church to work towards the adoption of inclusive language for God in our scriptures, liturgy, and Church documents.
Peace, Love, and Blessings
Deacon Richard
Comments
Joselli DeansPosted on 5/20/23
Dear Deacon Richard:
Thank you for this post. I prayed this with my prayer group yesterday making it neutral. It was a great blessing to me to see that men in the Church see these things are are speaking out about them. I have been blessed by this because our Mother Mary may have said these things this way in that time, or something similar, since we are not sure how the writer of Luke was inspired to write these words. She may have seen God as male but we understand more about God today, and you have allowed for that. As a black woman, I am further inspired because your opening up this idea of Mary's prayer and who God is also opens up the idea of who Mary was, not a blond haired beauty but a women "of color" ---making her someone I can relate to in our Church that is very Eurocentric dominated Church. Thank you! God bless your ministry.
Claire RenkinPosted on 2/20/23
Thank you Richard, for sharing these inclusive versions of Mary's proclamation of God's promise of liberation to the oppressed! I belong to a women's group in Melbourne, Australia that meet regularly, working to create a more just inclusive church. We began the our first meeting of the year, with this prayer.
With gratitude,
Claire on behalf of Women's Wisdom in the Church
judy shermanPosted on 7/01/22
Thank you Richard for your recognition of the blatant omission and the courage to speak out.
Mary RootPosted on 7/01/22
Thank you so much for being sensitive to the struggle women experience in our universal church.
I am involved in a number of committee meetings as a consociate of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet and Consociates where people are asked to volunteer to offer prayers for the following meeting. I have copied both the abbreviated and full formed Magnificat to use at some of these meetings.
Ann KarnerPosted on 6/30/22
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It is not just our daughters and granddaughters who struggle with the lack of inclusive language. Some of us older life-long Catholic women not only feel second class but are offended. I cringe at any Mass where I hear " for us men and for our salvatuon". I am always thankful when I hear "for us and for . . ." . Such a little change can mean so much.
jacqueline danielPosted on 6/30/22
Wonderful readings, thanks for your stand on this, we need more
men stand up and be read and tried on God speaking wisdom thru them.
We want to be led by the Spirit too.
Joe IncorvajaPosted on 6/30/22
Thank you for continuing to make the gospel readings more inclusive and easy for ALL to embrace.
Mary TachenyPosted on 6/30/22
Beautifully written. Thanks for sharing this fresh perspective!