A world turned upside down

A Philippine Experience of the Magnificat

By Sr. Christine Gebel, O.L.M.
July/August 2008

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As I look back on 14 1/2 years spent in the Philippines, Mary’s Magnificat comes to mind. I have always been struck by how Mary’s words turn everything upside down, and how this can be seen as a threat... or as a blessing.

Sr. Christine Gebel shopping at her friend Dading’s market stall. Cagayan de Oro, Philippines.

One line of the Magnificat reads: “You have filled the hungry with good things, and have sent the rich away empty.”

Two thousand years later, this doesn’t seem to have happened. Being poor sucks and I have yet to see a magical deliverance from poverty to riches for anyone I know.

What could Mary have been thinking? Perhaps my time in the Philippines has given me an inkling.

For some of my years there, I had been living in the urban poor parish of Santo Niño, located in the main market area of Cagayan de Oro, a city on the island of Mindanao. I visited people in their homes and in the market, listening to their stories and lending moral and emotional support. I also visited different BEC (Base Ecclesial Community) groups. A BEC is composed of six to 10 neighbouring families who gather together and reflect on the Gospel of the upcoming Sunday and what it means for their lives today. The BECs are modeled on the first Christian communities described in the Acts of the Apostles and are meant to be a family affair. But, most of the time, only women and children show up for the groups I’ve attended. Maybe that’s a blessing. It gives the women a chance to talk about things that wouldn’t be mentioned if men were present.

In Santo Niño parish, there is one BEC group that I had grown especially close to. The women live in one of the poorest areas of the parish and have been meeting together for many years.

I have spent many hours with them, individually and as a group, and I have come to know their struggles, past and present.

Their stories of the past include night-time visits by military and Communist rebels who are hunting each other down in the mountains; of husbands who come home drunk more often than not; of struggling to instill values in their children despite the fact that Santo Niño is a drug-infested area. One woman spoke of holding her dying son in her arms after he had been stabbed by a gang member, and calling for help from her neighbours who were all too frightened to come out of their homes.

In the more recent past, I was present as they struggled to come to terms with the flooding of their homes with sewage because the shopping mall next door didn’t install proper drainage; the rape of a little girl by an elderly neighbour; of two grandchildren who ran away from home and were sighted on the streets high on drugs; of countless illnesses; of the death of an 11-month old granddaughter… and the list goes on.

Through it all, most Sunday mornings these women can be found gathered together in one of their homes to read the Gospel of the day and reflect on it.

Like Mary, they ponder, dream, question. I would join them as often as I could. They share a depth of trust and love that is rare. They are excruciatingly honest in their sharings.

They aren’t much to look at—bad teeth, too fat or too thin, worn out and wrinkled. They are nobodies by the world’s standards, but they are the most beautiful women I know.

And they have no idea that each one is a better woman than I could ever hope to be with my petty concerns and complaints in life, my unwillingness to let go and let myself be stretched.

Being poor definitely sucks, but in getting to know these women, I understand better what Mary was saying in her Magnificat. These women have found a way to make themselves rich in the midst of their material poverty and they have turned our world’s standards upside down. A blessing indeed.

Sr. Christine Gebel is a member of Our Lady’s Missionaries. After 14 1/2 years in the Philippines, she is currently assigned in Canada and serving on their Leadership Team.

The Magnificat
The Song of Mary
Luke 1: 46-55

My soul proclaims the greatness of our God, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; who has looked with favor on this lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed:
You O God have done great things for me, and holy is your Name.
You have mercy on those who fear you in every generation.
You have shown the strength of your arm, and have scattered the proud in their conceit.
You have cast down the mighty from their thrones, and have lifted up the lowly.
You have filled the hungry with good things, and the rich you have sent away empty.
You have come to the help of your servant Israel, for you have remembered your promise of mercy,
The promise you made to our ancestors, to Abraham and Sarah and their children for ever.

The People’s Companion to the Breviary: The Liturgy of the Hours with Inclusive Language (Carmelites of Indianapolis, 1997).

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