Sunday, December 23, 2018

Cast down the mighty and lift up the lowly


Fourth Sunday in Advent for many Christians is devoted to the Annunciation, which was what got the whole thing rolling, as it were. The Annunciation was when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she’d been chosen to bring the Son of God into the world via virgin birth.

We only have the (male) Gospel accounts of that event and they pretty much gloss over what must have been quite the awkward conversation. What we’re told is that, upon receiving the announcement (no discussion allowed), Mary replies, basically, “Well, okay. I am the handmaiden of the Lord. Let’s do it.”

A prayer for today is the Magnificat, a canticle sung by Mary. Technically, this takes us to the Visitation (which took place shortly after the Annunciation, thus long before Advent, but is referenced in seasonal readings), but I am not responsible for how this shakes out. “Magnificat” is the opening of how Mary describes her condition to her cousin Elisabeth. “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.”

We had a discussion on this canticle at Wednesday’s eucharist about the “magnifying” thing. People kept talking about magnifying glasses, which I think misses the point. Magnifying glasses make things look bigger; they stay the same size, we’re just experiencing an optical illusion. Mary tells us that she (through her soul) will add to the Lord; amplify him, if you will. Or perhaps she’s saying that she’ll make God manifest, and thus larger in our lives; she’ll actually add to the Lord.

So I think we should have a Magnificat today, and what better than J.S. Bach’s?


If you’d like the full version, here’s a performance held at the church for which Bach composed it:


You should crank up the volume to the max. 


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