Alumni Writings: Sophia (Mason ’09) Feingold on God’s “Generational Grace”

Writing in the National Catholic Register, Sophia (Mason ’09) Feingold reflects on Mary’s Magnificat to develop the idea of what she calls “generational grace,” complementing Biblical ideas of generational sin that can sometimes perplex readers of Scripture.

“Generational sin is a real phenomenon, though it might be well to borrow a phrase from the psychologists and recognize that it is sometimes ‘generational trauma,’” writes Mrs. Feingold. But she is quick to add that “one of the key promises of the New Testament … is that it is possible to end a cycle of generational evils.”

The grace of encountering Christ, believes Mrs. Feingold, ripples through generations the way sinfulness once rippled. To make her case, she turns to Mary’s Magnificat, where “God’s graciousness is perhaps most dramatically represented.” Between carefully examining the language of the prayer and Johann Sabastian Bach’s famous musical setting of the words, Mrs. Feingold’s offers a rich consideration of God’s overwhelming mercy.