For Mary's feast day

consider casting down the mighty

In her great magnificat, Mary proclaims in explicit language that the mission of God in the world includes scattering the proud, casting down the mighty, and sending the rich away empty. 

We would be wrong to see this solely as a spiritual metaphor. Throughout Scripture, God constantly reveals his concern for the poor and lowly and his anger towards those who abuse them. The messianic mission of God includes a great reversal, where the first are last and the powerful are cast down. 

If this is God's mission in the world, then it is also our mission. We—as baptized priests, prophets and kings—are the body of Christ in the world exercising his power to bring about his Kingdom.

Part of what it means to be Christian is to prevent the rich and powerful from abusing others, even if that means removing them from power. 

As Pope Francis says in Fratelli Tutti:

"We are called to love everyone, without exception; at the same time, loving an oppressor does not mean allowing him to keep oppressing us, or letting him think that what he does is acceptable. 

On the contrary, true love for an oppressor means seeking ways to make him cease his oppression; it means stripping him of a power that he does not know how to use, and that diminishes his own humanity and that of others" (FT 241)

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This is one of my favorite images of Mary. Support the artist here: 

https://benwildflower.com/collections/prints-1/products/magnificat-print