Hannah's song: overturning assumptions - dec. 22 2017

We read two hymns in today’s readings, the hymn of Hannah in our responsorial psalm and the hymn of Mary in our gospel today.  Both hymns have the same theme, the theme of reversal. In Hannah’s hymn we heard her sing - the bows of the mighty are broken, while the tottering gird on strength.  The well-fed hire themselves out for bread, while the hungry batten on spoil."  In Mary’s song we hear her sing: 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.  In the theme of reversal the world as we know it turns upside down, fortunes are reversed, the poor becomes rich, princes become paupers.

What is the meaning of this.  Two things.

First, God overturns our assumptions and expectations.  Naekperyensiahan nyo man ini indi bala?  Sa seminaryo pirme gid.  Ang wala mo ginapaabot nga magpari, nagapari.  Ang ginapaabot mo nga magpari, wala nagapari.  May kilala ako nga madre nga sang bata pa sia kontra-kontra ya gid ang mga madre, tapos igo mura nag-madre man sia, tapos subong natingala sia, ngaa nga nag-madre man ko man.  Pero happy man sia.  Naagyan nyo man ini, indi bala?  Ang kontra-kontra mo gid nga classmate, ang ginakainitan mo gid nga classmate, ang ginapalagyohan mo gid nga classmate, amo na sia subong ang bana mo.   Things you do not expect, assumptions you never thought would happen, happen.

The bible is filled with these stories:  the barren wife bears children, a father who has only one child becomes the father of the nation, the youngest becomes the king and the most favored, the virgin becomes a mother.

How can these things happen: God is God.  And so expect surprises. God sees things differently and so expect things to work out different from how you look at things.  Expect things to turn out differently and not according to how you planned them. 

Second, Some of what we heard may sound harsh – The barren wife bears seven sons, while the mother of many languishes, He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly, they may be harsh, but the point of the poetry is not to take each clause literally but to appreciate that all in which humans see their strength, all in which humans see their security, their wealth, their savings, their health and reputation - all these can be lost.  Ang paglantaw nga ang tanan nga ginasaligan naton sa kabuhi puede gid nga madula – ari subong wala na bwas.  All of these can come to nothing. Only the Lord, who judges all the earth, can grant life, and he does so in surprising ways and unlikely places.

Third, there is a distinction between who we are and the conditions of our life – conditions change, the circumstances of our life change – rich poor, mighty, powerless, barren fertile, but the core remain constant. Take the example of Job.  His circumstances changed from bad to worse, he lost everything including money, properties and children, and even his health, but his person, his faith in God, his values remain constant. God makes poor, God makes rich, God exalts and God humbles – these are circumstances in life.  What makes a man however is his core being because that is where his values reside.  And so it is not true kon magsiling ka mabulig ako kon makadaog na ako sa lotto.  Winning the lotto is a circumstance and circumstances change.  Bisan anano pa da nga sirkumstansya kon dalok ka, dalok ka gid na ya. Imol ka man ukon manggaran kon maalwan ka maalwan ka gid na ya.  And that core is important because it helps us to live in the different and changing circumstances of our lives.

And so we turn to God like Hannah, like Mary, God is God, God is our only security, God is in the core of our being so that in whatever circumstance we find ourselves we remain faithful and our values remain intact.