Justice. The administration of equality, and the liberation of the oppressed.
Justice. The bringing about of a fair and equal society.
Justice. Acting in a way that respects the dignity of every person.
Gerardo is someone who knows what it’s like to yearn for justice. He migrated from Mexico when his farm closed due to plummeting corn prices. Now, he picks tomatoes at a farm in Florida. He lives on about $7000 per year and lives in a tiny run down trailer with six other men. He is isolated from his wife and two young daughters who can’t afford to leave Mexico. He hasn’t had a raise in 30 years. He works ten hour days and receives no health care coverage or retirement benefits. He is exposed to dangerous pesticides every day, and can only pray not to get sick like some of his fellow workers.
The words of the Magnificat, found in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke speak directly to Gerardo and others like him who yearn for justice. The Magnificat is a text that Christians have cherished for centuries. Scholars have analyzed it, mystics have ruminated on it, and Christians of all backgrounds have used it as a text of praise and devotion. Gustavo Gutierrez, a Latin American liberation theologian claims that the Magnificat proclaims a gospel of hope because it tells of a God who comes to meet us where we are. To understand the gravity of this revelation, imagine what it must have been like for someone like Mary to receive this message of God’s new saving act. As Mary herself proclaims in the initial words of her song— she is amongst the lowly. Not only is Mary poor, but she is a woman-- a poor, Jewish woman living under the oppression of the Roman Empire. In every way, Mary represented “the least of these.” And yet it is to Mary that the angel discloses God’s plan of salvation, It is through Mary— the lowly servant— that God will be made incarnate through Christ.
The Magnificat, with its language of liberation and exaltation of the poor, speaks a counter-cultural language in today’s culture. It speaks of God’s “preferential option for the poor.” This is a message very much in keeping with the tone of the whole of Luke’s Gospel, throughout which we read stories about God’s special concern for the poor and lowly amongst us. Take for instance the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Jesus tells the story of Lazarus, a poor beggar who lies daily at the gates of a rich man, hoping only to receive the crumbs from the rich man’s table. The picture of Lazarus is made even more pathetic when Jesus tells us that the rich man’s dogs would lick the wounds and sores that resulted from constant exposure to the dry desert sun. What happens next in the story is a direct illustration of the promises of the Magnificat: both the rich man and Lazarus eventually die, but it is Lazarus who is carried into heaven to be with his father Abraham, and the rich man who is cast into the darkness.
Here is where we might return to Gerardo’s story. In our society today, Gerardo is Lazarus. He is amongst the lowest of the low.
He is poor.
He is marginalized.
He is invisible.
His very presence is illegal.
Never mind it was largely the corn-subsidies of our own government that caused his farm to close and forced his separation from the people he loved. Never mind that his cheap labor puts cheap food in our supermarkets. Most of us are content to stay within the walls of our own communities while he and his fellow workers beg for a raise of only a penny more per pound of tomatoes they pick— the very crumbs off our tables. We are content never to see the poverty in which they live. We are content to be like the rich man— ignoring the cries of Lazarus as he yearns for justice. As he asks for the crumbs off our tables. But the words of the Magnificat remind us that we ignore such pleas for justice at our own peril. The message of liberation in Luke’s gospel is clear that God is with Gerardo in his struggle. The amazing thing about the good news, however, is that it exists for us as well. God is on the side of the poor, and so when we walk with the poor, when we claim solidarity with them, when we honor the dignity of every person, we are part of that good news too. Through God’s promise to the poor, we are also given the opportunity for transformation. The great reversal that the Magnificat speaks of happens in our very hearts.
Gerardo knows what it’s like to yearn for justice. And the good news of the incarnation is for him. The words of Mary’s song are for him. But they are also for us. For when we decide to be on the side of the poor, we are on the side of angels. And we are able to rejoice in Mary’s words of jubilation: ‘My soul magnifies the Lord. And my spirit rejoices in God my savior. God has helped the people of Israel, in remembrance of God’s mercy, according to the promises made to Abraham and to his descendants forever.'
For more information on the struggle for justice among migrant farm workers, and to join in their efforts, visit http://www.ciw-online.org/.
