God is our deepest desire

For the Church, Mary is a model of faith, charity and discipleship. In the Magnificat, there is a fourth quality that underpins each of the others. Mary is seen as a model of desire: she helps us to recognise what it is that we want.
The Magnificat begins: ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour’ (Luke 1:46–47). We note that Mary does not say that she is happy. Happiness might be a contentment that we find for a time in life, whereas joy has a restless quality, a longing. There is an expectation of what we seek, an aching, wonderful anticipation. It’s a bit like the experience of children on Christmas Eve, waiting to see what Father Christmas will bring. I can recall this experience of anticipation much more sharply than any present I ever opened.

I imagine Mary was telling Elizabeth of a Christmas Eve experience much more intense and fuller than that of children waiting for presents. That’s because she longs for what she bears in her womb: God. She welcomes her mission to bring the Saviour to birth. Now she desires always what her Son and God our Father desire in her life, and through her for the life of God’s people.

Every time we reach a milestone or get our hands on something we’ve been after for some time, the afterglow of satisfaction doesn’t last long. Something else always comes along to entice us. The reason this happens is that we don’t just want beautiful things, we want beauty itself; we don’t want this or that good thing, we want goodness itself. In short, we want God. God is our deepest desire.

Eamonn Walls SJ, The Sacred Heart Messenger, May 2023