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Mary’s “Magnificat” is pretty revolutionary. It isn’t praising God for abstract blessings, but for real material events, all of which have to do with radical social justice. And this makes sense, given the world Mary lived in. She was a young Jewish woman, likely from a poor family, in a nation that was occupied by the Roman Empire. Since she was not a citizen, she lacked various protections and rights. Her son Jesus would eventually be executed by that Empire, on suspicion of revolution—and his execution would be in the brutal form of crucifixion, since he didn’t enjoy the protection of citizenship.
We know there were revolutionary groups in first-century Roman-occupied Palestine. And we know Jesus was executed because the imperial regime viewed him as a revolutionary. What would Mary have thought about those groups? Does her Magnificat indicate that she favored them? Can we call Mary a revolutionary?
On this episode of Glad You Asked, the second in a three-part season finale looking at Mary as a figure of liberation, the hosts talk with theologian Kat Armas about Marian devotion in relation to movements of revolution and reform.
Armas has a dual Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Fuller Theological Seminary, where she was awarded the Frederick Buechner Award for Excellence in Writing. She is the author of Liturgies for Resisting Empire: Seeking Community, Belonging, and Peace in a Dehumanizing World (Brazos Press, and Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach Us About Wisdom, Persistence and Strength (Brazos Press), as well as numerous articles, including in the National Catholic Reporter, Plough Magazine, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, and Sojornours.
Learn more about this topic, and read some of Armas’ work, in these links:
- Liturgies for Resisting Empire: Seeking Community, Belonging, and Peace in a Dehumanizing World, by Kat Armas
- Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach Us About Wisdom, Persistence and Strength, by Kat Armas
- “In Scripture and Trump’s America, some people mistakenly want a king,” by Kat Armas
- “Mary, Mary, quite contrary,” by Elizabeth Johnson
- “How Liberation Theology Illuminates Advent in the Bible,” a U.S. Catholic interview
- “Divine revelation leads to revolution,” by Alice Camille
Glad You Asked is sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries USA, a congregation of Catholic priests and brothers who live and work with the most vulnerable among us. To learn more, visit claretians.org.
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